Practice Run
by Kaname1993
Summary: Chunks of metal and stone flew in every direction, dust pouring through the room. From the smoke flashed a strip of blood red light as a silhouette appeared. Ivory white teeth glowed in a malicious grin as the dust settled to reveal…
1. PR: Everyday Simulations

PR: Everyday Simulations

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot line.

•••000•••

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep… click, fwoosh.

Clack clack clack.

The faint sound of muffled steps resound through the long empty corridors. Coming to an abrupt halt, three shady figures paused at the crossroad of hallways. Pressed against the walls one peeked around the corner.

When the halls proved empty a hand signal was given before they took off once more, branching out down the different paths.

Silent as a ghost the slim figure on the central path traversed the long winding corridors, pausing every so often at the crossroads to check for life.

A glint of light and soft buzzing caused a pause in step. Ducking into a hall the shadow glimpsed around the corner to see a small, almost inconspicuous, wall camera swaying lazily to and fro.

Sliding to the very edge of the hall, one arm slipped around the corner. With a quiet snap a tiny silver blur shot out of the black gloved hand.

The soft buzz instantly vanished as the camera died out, it's power cable dangling uselessly at it's side.

Slipping back down the halls the black clad figure halted at a pair of large steel doors. A small key pad and scanner was mounted on the wall beside it.

Shuffling through a chest pocket, a small container was produced. Twisting the lid off, the person dusted a light coating of powder over the pad. A fingerprint promptly appeared as the powder stuck.

Pressing a thumb over the previous print caused the screen to flicker to life. A few cheerful beeps and access was granted as grinding gears pulled the door open for a moment before it closed once more.

"Hey! Who are you?" one of two rather large men within the room shouted startling awake his dozing companion. Both shot to their feet, snatching for the weapons hitched at their sides.

Before they could react the intruder dropped to the ground sliding forward. With an amazing display of flexibility, the person landed a well aimed double kick to the underside of both jaws.

One man fell to the ground unconscious as the other stumbled back. His gun sliding across the metal floor only to stop at the foot of his attacker.

Panic stricken he lunged for the large emergency lever on the wall. His fingers curled around cool metal as he pulled down.

The lever didn't budge.

A glance to the right had him howling in fright as a pair of magenta orbs stared him down from beneath the hood. The intruder was holding the lever with one hand as if it were nothing, even as the man pushed his weight onto it while he fell.

Before he could utter another sound a gloved hand shot out knocking him squarely in the temple. He collapsed to the ground.

The hooded figure proceeded to drag him over to his companion propping them against each other before tying them together with a rope. Two cloths were pulled from another hidden pocket and used as gags.

A glance over confirmed this as the security mainframe. Along the walls were dozens of monitors that flashed to different scenes every so often.

"I'm in." The figure called into a hidden microphone, striding over to the keyboards. "Status report."

"No problems on this end." a soft, yet high voice chimed.

"Bumped into a few guards, but nothing I couldn't handle." a slightly deeper voice called. "Hows it looking so far Crimson?"

"I've almost cracked the code. I'll give you two a layout in a moment." clattering keys resounded through the room, the central screen rapidly filling with letters and numbers. Moments later the screen flashed blue before changing to a map of the building. "Alright, I got it. Aqua it looks like your the closest to our target. Take a left at the next juncture and continue down the hall. Take the second right and you'll come to a dead end, there should be an air duct on the left side of the ceiling."

"Got it." The high pitched voice of 'Aqua' rang through the headset. A dainty figure appeared on the screen then. A soft clatter sounded before the figure disappeared. "Ok. Where to now?"

"It's gonna be a bit difficult to communicate while you're up there so I need you to remember the directions. You're going to go to the south of your current position. Take the fourth right, second left, third left, first right, and then you will reach a series of stacks. You'll need to climb up a level and you'll end up right next to the target room. Once there communication will be reestablished. I'll guide you more once you get there."

"Alright. Be hearing you soon." after repeating the directions over, Aqua proceeded into the ceiling ducts and the shuffling sounds were replaced by static.

Pink eyes flashed over the screen once more as several different locations appeared on the monitor. "Alright Jade, your gonna be- Jade, what are you doing?"

"Noffing." came a muffled reply.

"Are you eating?"

"Noo."

"Jade."

"…"

"JADE!"

"I DIDN'T HAVE BREAKFAST YET!" Jade whisper shouted into the headset.

"Ugh!" Face palming the figure seated before the monitor growled quietly. "I can't believe you sometimes… j-just, just get to your station."

"I'm already there. How do you think I got the food?"

"Ok, just wait until I give you the signal. Until then try not to get caught."

"Duh."

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Aqua! Thank you! At least someones paying attention!"

"I heard that."

"You were supposed to."

"Hello. Person dangling in air vent here. Can we stop fighting and get on with this?"

"Does this mean I can fight now?"

"…Ugh! Just make sure you cause enough of a commotion to get their attention."

"Yah, whatever C., just as long as I get to pound somebody's face in."

A loud blast was heard then as the room literally shook. Crimson ignored it as the alarm sounded loudly in the background. The once clear halls on the monitors now swarmed with people. Most wore sleep styled outfits while some were in disheveled blue uniforms. It was like stepping on a ant hill as they ran around in all directions.

"Ok Aqua. You can go in now. The floors cleared." Crimson called as all life on the upper level was directed below.

"I almost got it… just a little more…"

Crimson watched Aqua's progress over the monitors. The dainty figure was hanging from a ceiling vent, slowly slicing a hole into the large glass display case at the center of the room.

Within a few moments the glass was shifted out of the way and a medium sized object was removed. It was long and rectangular with a rounded end on one side. What really stood out though was the long, vertical, ebony grooves that stretched from one end to the other. Between each was tendrils of neon blue that pulsed as if they possessed a life of their own.

"Yes! I got it!"

"Good work Aqua. Now we just have to get Jade before the 'fireworks' start." Crimson proceeded to type at the keyboards, wiping out all traces of their presence. "Ok Aqua, there shouldn't be any interference this time so I uploaded the data straight to your head set. We'll need to head to the mess hall and then get the heck out."

"I really wish Jade didn't go overboard so much."

"No kidding. See ya on the other side."

Reaching up into the hood, a long black, visor like item was pulled down covering the glowing orbs. A flash of red shone from the headset for a moment before the figure got up from the computers. The pair of guards were unbound and left on the floor, as the figure slipped out of the room.

BOOM BOOM CRASH

Echo's of destruction resound through the halls shaking the structure. Jade was really letting loose this time. The black clad figure flashed down the halls, neon red layouts of the area overlapping the corridors beneath the visor giving perfect directions.

Destination reached, the mess hall was now on the other side of the wall. Unfortunately the door was on the opposite side and the little timer in the top left of the screen was running out.

"Well. The place is coming down anyway." Black gloves tightened as one arm drew back.

•••

BBBOOOOOOMMMM!

Chunks of metal and stone flew in every direction, dust pouring through the room. From the smoke flashed a strip of blood red light as a silhouette appeared. Ivory white teeth glowed in a malicious grin as the dust settled to reveal Crimson standing proudly amidst the rubble.

Within the room, the occupants scattered. Overturned, broken, or completely demolished tables littered the floors. Mountains of unconscious, beaten bodies lay scattered throughout the area. Some on the floors, others draped over the broken tables and debris. Others still hung from the walls, or crumpled on the ground in their own personal craters.

At the very center of the room stood Jade clad in similar attire to the newest visitor. The difference was that Jade had the hood down, revealing raven hair pulled back into a ponytail. The sleeves of the jacket were torn off as well, exposing slim but muscular arms. A visor of black covered the eyes, biohazard green light blazing beneath.

Most of the solders within the room were preoccupied with Jade as countless approached only to be roughly beaten back. The lucky ones received nothing more than a punch or kick before flying through the air in random directions. The unfortunates were subject to multiple hits before being tossed back from whence they came.

Body's were flown around the room like rag dolls, maniacal laughter echoing loudly amidst the screams of terror. They were being toyed with. They were no match for the brute strength of this monster. Many opted to flee from this maddened entity, with it's sadistic grin and torn clothes, leaving their comrades in it's deathly grips.

Crimson joined Jade as the two showed no mercy, savagely destroying every attempt the solders made. Blood splattered across the two forms as the raven crushed the opponents nose. The other opted for more precise blows, solders crumpling into unconsciousness from single hits, the stronger ones regrettably aware of the pain as they soared into tables and comrades alike.

A third joined the fray then, Aqua's neon blue light shining from the coal black visor. Thundering sound erupt like sonic blasts, the conscious solders dropping like flies, grasping at their ears, writhing in pain.

Wind whipped around the room as three twisters of magenta, green, and blue appeared, sucking up their helpless victims only to toss them aside like trash.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Metal and concrete scattered across the room as yet more holes were blasted in the wall before the ceiling began to collapse.

The entire structure quaked as explosion after earth shattering explosion erupt in the distance drawing closer by the second.

The hooded figures lazily vanished amidst the chaos and destruction even as the building became engulfed in flame. One last flash of light from the visors shone in the distance as the structure went tumbling down.

•••

Beep Beep Beep Whoosh

All sounds of destruction came to an abrupt halt, replaced by the loud whirring of a machine as it powered down. Damaged walls and blazing fires melted into white.

"BOOYA! I totally OWNED!" jumping around in excitement, 'Jade' pulled the hooded jacket and visor off to reveal emerald eyes and a green t-shirt with 'BC Baby' printed across the chest. "I think I even beat my last record. How'd you do Bubb's?"

"Well I'm proud to report that I DID get the target this time." 'Aqua' squealed, bouncing up and down, hands clapping in glee. "Thanks Bloss! I never could have done it without you!"

"Not a problem Bubbles. You did very well this time." 'Crimson' or Blossom, stated pulling back her hood, allowing a long braid of fiery red hair to fall. Unzipping the jacket, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Buttercup on the other hand, though I admit did well as a distraction, shouldn't have let HERSELF get distracted so easily."

"I was HUNGRY!" Buttercup whined walking towards a pair of large steel doors. "It's not my fault you had us doing this before breakfast."

"We do this every Monday Buttercup. You should be used to it by now." Blossom followed her green sister out, waiting patiently for Bubbles to join them. "Alright, you two should get ready for school, I'll start on breakfast."

"Isn't it my turn for breakfast though?" Bubbles quipped, skipping ahead of her sisters before turning back with her hands placed cutely beneath her chin. "You did it last week Bloss."

"That's ok Bubbles. You two have to change before you go to school. I don't have to be ready for another hour or two."

"Bloss, have I ever told you, you work too much?" Buttercup questioned turning to her redheaded sister.

"Only every day." Blossom sighed.

"Cause you're turning into a workaholic. Take a break already."

"You know I can't do that Buttercup."

"The towns not gonna burn down if you take one day off you know." Bubbles latched onto her 'older' sisters arm. "Please Bloss! Come to school with us today."

"And what about my patients?"

"So a couple of villains don't get their temper shots. Big whoop." Crossing her arms behind her head, Buttercup paused in front of the bathroom. "It's not like you'll be doing anything in class anyway. You can just catch up on whatevers on your laptop."

Blossom glanced between Bubbles's pleading eyes and Buttercup's bored, though in actuality also pleading, expression. The green had gotten nearly as good at hiding emotions over the years as she was. They weren't about to let her off the hook this time… sighing in defeat the redhead conceded.

"Yes! I'll go start on breakfast, you two get ready for school!" Bubbles skipped merrily down the hall as Blossom turned back to her room.

She was really turning into a big softie. It was so hard to say no to them. Blossom proceeded to change into a pair of baggy jeans and a fitted tank-top. Her taste in clothes had changed over the years, the red dress traded in for long pants or shorts. Just like Buttercup, she now refused to wear dresses and skirts. They just made things difficult, often gaining her unwanted attention.

•••***•••

Making her way to the kitchen, the pink Puff paused as her green eyed sister stepped into the hall. She was still wearing the same shirt she had on before but now had a pair of cargos and combat boots on. Nodding silently, the two continued down the hall.

The table was already set, a mountain of pancakes pilled on a plate in the center. Bubbles was hovering around the table filling a few glasses of juice as well before she noticed them.

Her face lit up as she smiled at the two. Even after years of heroics Bubbles had the same old bubbly personality. Her hair was still kept in pigtails at the top of her head though now they were much longer reaching down to the middle of her back. At the moment there were a pair of fuzzy scrunchies holding them up. She had on a baby blue, fitted, off the shoulder t-shirt with shorts and a pair of dark blue converse. Unlike her sisters, Bubbles had no problem with skirts or dresses but she still opted not to wear them too often.

Breakfast was loud that day. Bubbles was obviously excited about getting her sister to come with them and was rambling non stop. Buttercup, though not as noticeably, was quite enthusiastic as well. It wasn't often that they managed to get the pink Puff to come to school with them. It wasn't like she had to go after all, technically she had already graduated. She just stuck around for her sisters sake.

Buttercup often got into trouble whenever she wasn't around. And Bubbles tended to have boyfriend problems on a regular basis. More than that they just liked spending time together, even though, as Buttercup so blatantly states, 'they have to do crappy school work'.

•••***•••

Blossom took one last look at her reflection. Bubbles always said she had changed the most of the Puffs. Blossom honestly never noticed. Sure she didn't wear dresses anymore but neither did Buttercup.

Her hair was just as long, if not a little longer than before as it reached the back of her knees. Her baggy jeans hung loosely about her hips, a couple of belts holding it on. A tank-top hugged her curves snugly, unfortunately that made her chest stand out a little though. On her head in place of her bow was a red and black decorated cap that drooped to the side slightly. Her old bow had long since torn and the two pieces were now wrapped around her wrists, just behind her fingerless gloves. Hanging at her side was a large messenger bag with pink and red designs on it's black surface.

Ok maybe she did change a bit. It's not like she could help it though. She was still the kind, academic loving Puff she was before. She just grew up is all. It wasn't like she could stay a kid forever, especially after what happened before the Professors accident.

Blossom quickly shook her head ridding herself of those thoughts. Snatching up the keys, she made her way to the garage locking the door behind her. Buttercup and Bubbles were already waiting in the car. Bubbles in her usual spot on the center of the back seat, Buttercup riding shotgun as she lazily dangled over the door frame waiting.

They both perked up noticeably when she got into the car. Starting the engine, Blossom pulled out of the garage and turned down the long drive. They had moved from the old house quite a while back and were now living in a much more … rural area.

Bubbles was quite pleased with the move seeing as she loved nature. Buttercup wasn't quite so impressed. For a while she suffered from pavement withdraws and grumbled about why they had moved to the middle of nowhere. She readily changed her opinion once she realized she could make as much noise as she wanted without getting in trouble though.

Bubbles chittered happily the whole way down the winding road making conversation enough for both her sisters. She didn't seem to mind that neither of the two really talked back, just enjoyed her time with them.

•••***•••

Pulling into the school parking lot, Blossom stopped in her usual spot. She was honestly surprised that someone else didn't already claim it, after all she hardly ever used it.

Getting out of the car, Blossom froze on the spot. She had a sneaking suspicion that someone was watching her. The Puff brushed it off after a while, this was high school after all. There was always at least one person looking at one point or another, they weren't famous for nothing.

Once on campus, Bubbles was nearly surrounded by her many friends as they chirped and twittered like a flock of birds. Buttercup and Blossom squeezed their way out of the group leaving Bubbles to her own little world. Neither of the older Puffs liked crowds very much.

Buttercup's small group of friends popped up out of virtually nowhere then.

"Mornin BC! Whose your- woah, if it isn't miss Blossom herself. Come to join the land of mortals I see." Mitch hardly changed at all, he had toned down a bit but was still a troublemaker like no other.

The boy had developed something between a skater and punk style over the years. He had on a dark black shirt with the same old 'Mitch Rocks' print, over a long sleeved white shirt. Long blue jeans shorts flared over his legs. On his feet were seemingly oversized skater shoes and, oddly enough, neon green socks. He was also sporting bandages around one knee, probably from another skateboard accident. Said board was tucked under one arm, the poor thing really needed to be retired already covered in dents and scratches as it was. Blossom swore she could even see duck tape in some spots.

"Hiya Blossom- haven't seen you around- in ages." The Floyjoydsen twins called finishing each others sentences. Those two were, if anything, exactly the same as they had been before.

Through she could easily tell the two apart the only visible differences were the colors they chose to wear. Both sported long-sleeved black shirts and striped overshirts. But while Floyd wore blue with long pants, Harry wore red with shorts.

It seemed they weren't up for the usual game of 'Who's who' on this particular day. As a result Floyd and Harry's usual mops of shaggy black hair were pulled back. Floyd using a small band to tie it while Harry popped on a couple of red and black hair clips in his favorite 'X' fashion. Without the hair in their faces anyone who paid a lick of attention could easily tell the two apart, their miss matched orange and silver eyes standing out against caramel tanned flesh.

"Hi guys." Blossom greeted the twins before playfully cuffing Mitch on the shoulder.

"Oh, the AGONY!" Mitch wailed, dramatically clutching his arm before flopping onto the ground. He lay there for a moment completely ignoring the weird looks he was getting. After a while he popped back up, sitting in the middle of the sidewalk as if nothing had happened. "Seriously though. WHERE have you been girl?"

"We thought- you fell- off the planet- or somthing."

"You know Blossom, workaholic." Buttercup jabbed her sister lightly in the side at this.

"I am not a workaholic." Blossom defended.

Four pairs of eyes stared blankly back at the pink Puff. "Oh shut up!" Pouting slightly, Blossom folded her arms. From the corner of her eye she saw the twins grin at each other before moving to stand on either side of her.

"You know we love ya, right Bloss?" Grinning cheekily they wrapped their arms around her waist before planting their chins on her shoulders.

The pink Puff tried to ignore them but once she felt Buttercup drape herself over her shoulders, Blossom couldn't stop her lips from twitching up.

"Hey! What about me?" Mitch whined jumping up. "I want a hug too!"

The twins intercepted him, shifting slightly in front of her and blocking his path. "What about you?" Floyd questioned. "Yah. You're just a perv." Harry finished. Both twins stuck their tongues at him.

"Ugh! Fine then! I see how it is!" Mitch scowled, arms crossed as he turned his back on them. "Some friends you are."

Buttercup sighed over Blossoms shoulder, eyes rolling in exasperation. "Oh, get over here you drama queen."

Mitch didn't need to be told twice, he was there in seconds flat, worming his way between the twins and throwing his arms around both Blossom and Buttercup. "I knew you guys loved me!"

Harry and Floyd shook their heads at their friends antics. "Somebody's had-one too many-falls." peeking over Blossoms head the continued conversing. "You think he's got brain damage?" Harry questioned. "This is Mitch we're talking about. I wouldn't put it past him." Floyd replied.

"Hello? Standing right here." Mitch grumbled.

"We know." The twins chirped, smiling brightly as if they hadn't just been talking about him. Their heads spun around then as they turned like startled ferrets when the bell rang loudly behind them. "Well, time for class."

Wrapping an arm around each shoulder the twins pried Mitch off of Blossom before dragging him off between them.

"My friends." Buttercup murmured in an agonized tone as she shook her head. She stooped down to pick up Mitch's forgotten skateboard. "They're insane, but you gotta love em."

Blossom just chuckled as she followed them to class. They were so weird. But then again what was normal? If it meant being like everyone else than she'd rather be weird. Normal seemed pretty boring in her opinion.

•••***•••

Opening the door to class, Blossom was nearly tackled by a frantic Mitch. "I CAN'T FIND JEWEL!" he screeched, running around the room in frantic circles as he practically yanked his hair out.

"Looking for this?" Buttercup held his skateboard up over her head. Mitch stopped on a dime, staring at the battle scared board.

"JEWEL!" he zipped clear across the room as if he himself possessed super speed. Snatching the board from her hand, he cradled it against his chest petting it like a cat. "My baby! Daddy's sorry! I'll never leave you behind again!"

"Dude, are you high?" one of the students in class questioned, staring at Mitch as if he had grown a second head.

"No. I had fifteen Pixie Sticks and a two liter bottle of Mountain Dew for breakfast though." Mitch blabbed in a speedy voice before giving the girl a wide eyed grin, looking for all the world like a mental patient. He dashed off to his desk at the back of the room then.

Blossom could only stare after the boy. Leaning over, she whispered to Buttercup. "Is he ok?"

"Yep. Don't worry, he'll be out like a light as soon as Mr. Kazuhiro walks in."

Buttercup was right. The second the teacher stepped into the class, Mitch was curled in his chair, feet propped over the desk, snoring quietly.

Shaking her head once more, Blossom put her bag in her lap, pulling out her blood red laptop. She placed it gently on her desk before powering it on, only slightly paying attention to the teacher.

She was partially aware of Mr. Kazuhiro saying something about new students. Blossom glanced up then as she heard Buttercup's sharp intake of breath. Her green eyed sister was glowering, fists clenched at her side as she grit her teeth. Eyebrows furrowed, the pink Puff glanced up to the front of class.

Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she locked eyes with the last three people she wanted to be seeing any time soon.

SNORE!

'Damn Mitch.'

•••000•••

Wahoo! This was just a little plot bunny I had hopping around in my head. I really wanted to turn it into a story but I kept telling myself not to start on a second story when I didn't finish my first one.

I ended up writing this anyway so that I don't end up forgetting it. I'm pretty forgetful after all. -_-'

I'm planning on turning this into a story at some point in the future but for now I just decided to put it up and leave it there so it docent end up in some forgotten corner of my brain collecting dust.

I don't know when I'll update this, it'll probably be left on hiatus until whatever time I finish my other story. Who knows, I might update it on occasions. If I get enough reviews for it I might even start writing it while I write Ragnarök but for now it's just gonna be hanging around.

And before someone points it out I do know that the twins names are actually Floyd and Lloyd but I kept mixing them up and decided to change it to Floyd and Harry.

Well as you may know this is now my revised version of the story. I know I didn't change much about this chapter but I'm probably gonna be adding on a few after this one to give the characters more time to interact and such since I feel I've been just kicking the story along without explaining things enough. Someone also pointed out to me that they do not believe the puffs would fight this way and hurt people like they did. Therefore I would like to point out that it wasn't something that actually happened, it was all just a simulation, but even if it were this isn't a story that's rainbows and sunshine. No matter how nice it is to think you can, there really is no way to help or please everyone. That said, if the girls were to always save the villains it just means those baddies can come back to fight them again, so while they have left them behind in dire circumstances, they still leave a window of opportunity as Blossom showed by untying the guards before she left. Meaning they didn't kill them but they aren't going to save them either.


	2. PR2:

PR 2:

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just the plot line…Yawn.

•••000•••

What the hell! There was NO way that this was part of Townsville. This place was way out in the freaking boondocks, at least three or four MILES from the actual city itself. Ok so thats exaggerating but still! Everywhere you look, trees trees and more TREES! Where was the asphalt, the concrete, the skyscrapers? WHERE WAS THE PAVEMENT! … Please don't let that be a rooster… oh my gosh its a rooster… CAN THIS DAY GET ANY WORSE?

"Here's your schedules for class. It's your first day so don't get into trouble!"

He just had to ask… didn't he. At least it can't get any- NO, no don't even think. You'll just jinx it!

Growling quietly, forest green eyes darted around the car. He was currently seated in the back seat on the passenger side of his quote unquote 'Fathers' ugly old jalopy of a car. Hell knows how the thing could even start let alone run.

Across from him was his blue eyed brother, Boomer. The blonde was wearing blue, cut up, denim jeans. A black tank top with a blue camo printed, unbuttoned over shirt, and neon blue skater shoes. His hair style hadn't changed and still flared out to the sides. The only noticeable difference was the pair of slim glasses perched on top of his head. His looked completely emotionless, eyes glazed over with a half dead look as he stared silently out the window. Creepy.

Shuddering slightly, he shifted his gaze to the front of the car. In the passenger seat was his 'older' brother Brick, who looked positively livid. Livid was the word right? Brick said he should start improving his vocabulary, whatever that meant.

Returning his focus to his brother, Butch stared at him in the mirror. Brick had on a baggy red t-shirt and even baggier black jeans. Sheesh, if it weren't for belts they probably would have fallen off by now. Not that he was one to talk. Brick's flaming red hair was messily pulled back into a low ponytail with his beat up old cap shoved down backwards over it. He had his chin propped up with one of his fingerless gloved hands as he glared out the window. Butch almost felt sorry for the piece of glass he was staring through, and anyone who happened to see the redhead. That glare was enough to kill, or at least maim.

"Alright boys, since I already know you would get mad if I dropped you off in front of school I will let you out here." Mojo stated, parking the car a little away from the school. At least he had some brains, and got over that stupid speech impediment as Brick called it. "I will pick you up here after school."

"Weren't you supposed to pick us up early for a doctors appointment or something?" Boomer finally spoke, startling Butch.

"Yes, but I got a call stating that she is not in this morning, she will be there later."

"What? This decrepit old town only got one doctor?" Brick scoffed, refusing to turn around. He was probably still sulking about having to go to school. He wasn't exactly a morning person either.

"No, there are many doctors but only one certified to treat super beings. Now go, go. I must get to the school and talk to your principal." Mojo said, shooing them out of the car before driving away.

"Well, at least we won't get embarrassed to death by having Mojo drop us off in that thing." Crossing his arms behind his head, Butch followed his brothers to the school parking lot.

"Is it just me or is this town like, creepy small." Butch complained, hands tucked behind his head he eyed the nearby stores and cracking pavement. "I'm half expecting a tumble weed to go rolling by."

"Docent seem that bad." Boomer mumbled dragging his feet to make that annoying scraping sound that he knew drove Butch insane. "It's small, but that means less people."

"Exactly!" Butch shouted not giving a damn who heard. "Less people means less girls!"

"I think that's a good thing." Boomer said, his voice even softer. The kid never liked drawing attention. "I don't think I could handle having a bunch of girls around again, too clingy."

"Remind me again how I'm related to you." Dropping his arms, Butch blankly stared, looking his brother up and down.

"Deoxyribonucleic Acid" Brick stated with his usual growl, his lips curled into an evil smirk when Butch startled. Brick rolled his eyes in exasperation when Butch just stared back blankly. "DNA, dumb ass."

"The stuff found in body tissue." Boomer added looking up and down the deserted street before crossing. "Most commonly in the blood."

"Why can't ya just say that instead of making it more complicated?" Butch glowered, turning back to Brick only to find empty space. "Where'd he go?"

Butch turned in the direction his brother had last been, glancing around the empty street and through the parking lot. Turning back he spotted Brick stomping his way into the school, scaring off the few students already there.

"Hey, where ya goin? You could at least say bye ya know!" Butch shouted across the school yard, if Brick had heard him he was probably being ignored. "Can you believe this guy?" Jabbing a thumb over his shoulder, he turned back to Boomer.

He was greeted by the schools fresh pavement, a few names scribbled here or there, and an old sign board it's weathered words worn beyond recognition.

"FUCK YOU, BASTARDS!" Kicking up dirt, Butch stomped on campus muttering darkly. 'Every time, I can't believe those pricks!'

Ugh. He wasn't exactly thrilled about having to be here either, but did his brothers have to ignore him on top of that? Sure Brick could be a stuck up asshole sometimes, ok most times, but Boomer too? Damn, he was probably better off on his own.

Since it was still really early, Butch decided to find someplace to relax. He wanted to spend as much time OUTSIDE of that prison they called school as he possibly could.

'Hmm, let's see…' The school was mostly empty. 'Some preppie kids hanging around the door…mostly nerds, next. Couple making out on the benches, gross. Hey look, a pot head, hmm…nah, maybe later.'

"Ugh! Where the frick is everybody!" Wandering around wasn't all that appealing an option so he decided to take a nap.

•••***•••

It probably wasn't the brightest idea to sleep in a tree… then again thats exactly where Butch found himself nearly half an hour later. He had to admit, it was pretty damn comfortable, and he even got a view of all the students hanging around without any of them knowing he was there. Though honestly he hadn't actually been watching any in particular.

The green Ruff had dosed off just minutes after popping his headphones on. He probably would have remained asleep if it weren't for the loud ass engine of the car that just pulled in.

Holy shit that was a nice ride. He was more of a green type of guy but even he had to admit that red paint job was smoken. From the second he laid eyes on it he was in love!

Butch had gotten into mechanics around the time he turned twelve as a way of keeping himself out of Juvie. During that time the Ruff had seen many a hot rod but none like this one. It looked like something straight out of NASCAR. He couldn't even tell what model it was, but it looked sort of like a cross between a 2010 Ford Mustang and a 1986 Chevy Camaro. The car had a street racer look to it with the whole streamline effect, complete with side air scoops and spoiler.

And that engine! Oh don't get him started on that engine… the green Ruff was itching to get a peek at it. It was like the driver was taunting him, revving again and again. He was at least twenty or thirty feet away and he could still feel the sound vibrating through him, or maybe he was just twitching again… and the paint job! Oh those black pinstriped flames over the crimson was just wow, just, just wow. Was he drooling? Ok good, he wasn't.

The Ruff was almost sad when the car turned off, that is until he spotted the chicks stepping out of it. He had officially changed his mind! This school was AMAZING!

From the passenger door came a tall raven haired girl. Her, probably shoulder length, hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. She was wearing a green T and baggy camo pants with black combat boots. Obviously a real tomboy, normally he wouldn't have thought she was all that hot but that ass!

A blond came after her, hair tied into long pigtails with some weird fuzzy things. Butch vaguely took note of the pair of short blue shorts she had on but was far more preoccupied staring at her chest. Those had to be D's, definitely D's, and that blue off the shoulder shirt just made it ten times worse… oh he was sure to be drooling now…

Choking on air Butch nearly fell off the branch, literally scrambling to hold on as the driver stepped out. He really needed that doctors appointment later, he felt like he just had a heart attack.

For a split second Butch was seriously questioning whether he had finally gone insane or not. Was that Brick? That thought was quickly squashed when he realized it was a girl.

'OMG it's Brick with boobs! Except, hot… really, really, really, REALLY HOT!'

'Aaaaahhhhh! No, no, no! Bad brain, BAD!' He did NOT just imply that his brother was hot! Brick was not hot! Brick was a guy, guys were not hot! He was not gay! That girl on the other hand… oh who cared? So what if she looked like a female version of his older brother. This chick was a super model in skater shoes.

She hadn't even turned around yet and he could tell she was gorgeous. Sure her ass wasn't quite as big as the ravens, neither were her breast as large as the blondes, she was smack dab in the middle of the two, with perfect curves. What he wouldn't give for her to be wearing shorts instead of those baggy grey pants. With her height, he had no doubt that her legs would be the best part of her figure.

Or better yet, he'd love if those belts stopped doing their job. Then again it did look pretty good on her. The grey pants hanging loose around her hips, the black tank squeezing to her waist and straining over those C's, they were definitely C's.

What threw him off had been the lopsided cap sitting on her head, and the hair. Her hair was just as long as Bricks had been before he cut it about a week ago. The only difference was that her hair was perfectly brushed, with not a strand out of place as it fell to her knees. The gloves had also caught his eye. Brick was currently wearing a pair exactly the same as the ones she had on.

She got out of the car and for the longest time simply stood there, facing the other way. When would she turn around?

Then again there was something oddly familiar about her, besides the fact that she looked a lot like Brick. He found himself silently counting the seconds until finally she turned around. When she did… his blood ran cold.

Blossom.

She had to be Blossom. There was no one else in the WORLD with pink eyes like those. Sure they were far darker than the rose pink he remembered but there was no mistaking it.

This was not good. If that was Blossom then the other two HAD to be Bubbles and Buttercup. The fact that they were here most likely meant they went to school here as well. This could only spell trouble for the Ruffs.

There was no way Brick would just ignore them. He still held a grudge against the Puffs for destroying them in the past. Butch himself was still pretty ticked about that but Brick took it to a whole new and personal level.

Anger was not enough to describe his brothers deep seated hatred for the girls. Brick had even scared HIM once with the sheer amount of fury he bottled up over them. If his brother saw them, there was sure to be a full blown war.

He couldn't let that happen. The whole reason they came all the way out here was so they wouldn't get into so much trouble. Ok, so the didn't want to be here in the first place, but still!

He had to find his brothers. He'd find Boomer first, where ever the hell the blonde air head had disappeared to and then the two of them would find Brick. Hopefully they could then distract him from the girls. It'd be a lot of work, but maybe, just maybe they would be able to distract him long enough for one of them to convince Mojo to get them to a different school.

•••***•••

Even with super speed it took Butch a good twenty minutes before he finally found his blonde brother. Boomer predictably, had somehow managed to find the only freaking robotics classroom in the ENTIRE godforsaken school.

The boy was sitting at a table in the far back corner, glasses on, tinkering with some random piece of junk Butch didn't take the time to care about.

If it didn't have an engine bigger than his fist, or somehow manage to do his homework for him, the green Ruff wasn't interested.

Dashing to the back of the class, Butch slammed his hands onto the desk rattling it slightly. Like usual Boomer hadn't even noticed he was there until the table shifted, spoiling his concentration.

"What the hell man?" Boomer shouted, jumping to his feet. He fixed his brother with a steely glare. "What the heck is your problem Butch?"

"We got trouble bro."

"Aww shit!" dropping his gaze, Boomer ran a hand over his face. He then began rubbing his temples as if he had a migraine. "Butch, what did you do this time?"

"Why does everyone just automatically assume I got into some shit?" Butch grumbled defensively.

"Because you always do." Boomer deadpanned.

"Screw you!"

"What are you here for Butch?"

"Oh yah!" Butch grabbed Boomer by the shoulders shaking the blonde slightly. "I saw the Puffs outside a little while ago!"

Boomer's cobalt blue eyes widened like saucers, his jaw dropping as he stared back at his green brother, gaping like a fish.

When finally he regained his senses, he shook his head roughly. "Where's Brick?"

"I don't know man! I searched the whole school just looking for you. I didn't even see him once!"

"Did you check the library?"

"…no."

"And I'm the dumb one." Boomer muttered while swiping a hand over the desk and pushing everything back into his backpack.

Butch ignored him as he ran back to the door. He could always get back at him later. Right now though, they needed to find Brick.

•••***•••

Butch and Boomer dashed through the halls of the school, weaving their way through the crowds. The two received many a strange look but they didn't care. What they did care about was finding Brick BEFORE he found one of the Puffs. Or worse, a Puff found them.

Once they reached they library the two nearly plowed through the double doors. Unfortunately a Librarian happened to be standing at a bookshelf near by.

Panicking slightly, Boomer zipped off into the maze of shelves leaving Butch to the tiny teachers wrath. Damn that boy for being the fastest runner.

"Young man what on earth do you think you're doing? This is a Library. Do you have any idea what the rules are?"

Butch slowly tuned out the mousey woman's shrill voice. It wasn't the first time he'd been lectured by some random adult and it probably wouldn't be the last. They were ex-cons and villains, they got this kinda treatment regularly.

"Oww!"

The tiny woman must have noticed he was no longer paying attention because Butch found himself being tugged through the library by his ear.

RIIIIING!

Yes! Saved by the bell! Before she could object, Butch twisted his way out the Librarians grasp and blitzed back through the doors.

Boomer had probably found Brick by now anyway. Besides unless he was mistaken they all had the same first hour together. He'd see them in class.

•••***•••

"JEWEL!" Butch nearly went deaf as a loud voice shouted. Damn his super hearing.

Pausing outside the door, Butch peered through the window looking into the classroom. Maybe he made a mistake, yah that's it! He got the wrong room number!

Nervously pulling out his schedule, Butch read the class number before checking above the door. 'Docent hurt to check twice'

'Baaaad choice Butch.' he thought to himself. 'Murphy, you're a bastard.'

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and did go wrong.

Both Buttercup AND Blossom were inside the classroom. His schedule clearly stated this was his first class. Maybe he could convince Brick not to go today.

"What are you doing idiot?" Whirling around, Butch's eyes went wider than a deer in headlights. 'Brick.'

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Butch chuckled nervously. Brick didn't seem to buy it though. He glared for a moment before sighing in irritation.

The second the red Ruff turned his back, Butch began flapping his arms, sending Boomer wild hand gestures. Boomer didn't understand though and just stared at him.

"The Puffs are in the class!" Butch mouthed, pointing frantically at the door.

Boomer kept stareing at him.

'Oi!' Facepalming, Butch dragged his hand over his face. "Puffs!" he mouthed again keeping it simple for Boomer while pointing at the door repeatedly.

The blonde seemed to understand this time as his eyes widened fearfully. Glancing at Brick, Boomer nerviously began chewing on one of his thumb nails. He always seemed to do that when he was thinking, or worrying.

"All right boys. You can come in now." The teacher called from inside.

'CRAP!' Butch felt like hyperventilating. 'Was it getting hot in here?'

Breezing past, Brick stalked off into the room before either Boomer or Butch could stop him. They traded wide eyed stares, both gulping nervously. Steeling themselves for the inevitable, they followed Brick in, standing stiffly before the class.

Butch stood still as a statue, ignoring the looks he received from the other occupants. Not like this was new either, standing in front of a bunch of people while their eyes raked over him, judging him like he was a piece of meat. They were all just vultures that would probably end up dead in a few minutes anyway. Besides, he never did mind the attention, especially from the female population.

'Ah. What the hell.' If it was gonna happen, it was gonna happen. 'Might as well just go with it.'

Relaxing his taunt muscles, Butch glanced at Boomer who was once again a blank slate. One hand hung limp at his side while the other held onto the strap of his backpack. He looked pretty calm but Butch could see the nervous glint in his brothers cobalt orbs.

Shrugging, Butch shoved his hands into his baggy jeans pockets. Adopting a bored look, Butch let his eyelids droop lazily as he gave the class a once over. It didn't take him more than a second to spot Buttercup. His super hearing had picked up her sharp gasp, how ever quiet it may have been.

Emerald locked with forest green as they stared at each other unblinking. Buttercup with a dark angry glare, Butch dead and emotionless. Unfortunately she was beginning to tick him off.

SNORE!

Ending their glaring contest, his eyes flickered further back to the teen behind and to the left of her. The boy had a slight tan, a mop of long shaggy hair covering his eyes. He was sleeping…

A tiny piece of chalk flew across his vision like a bullet then. It hit the brunet square in the forehead startling the teen awake.

"WERE UNDER ATTACK! CALL THE ADMIRAL!" Screeching like a banshie, the boy jumped off his chair and began running around the back of the class, holding a beat up skateboard over his head like a helmet.

Every person in class besides the Puffs and a pair of twins seated next to them stared after the teen as he ran. The twins didn't even flinch, one draped lazily over his desk while the other slouched in his chair. Buttercup was rubbing her eyebrows but showed no further acknowledgment. It was like this was normal to them.

His eyes landed on Blossom then, trailing hungrily over her voluptuous curves. She was gazing lazily at the front of the class looking bored. As if there were nothing of interest she blinked once before returning to the laptop on her desk.

'Why did nothing happen yet?' Butch peered inconspicuously at Brick. 'Why wasn't he going berserk? Not that he was complaining or anything.'

The red Ruff was obviously ticked. His hands were balled into fists at his side so tight that his knuckles had turned white. His jaw clenched as he ground his teeth, eyes glaring daggers into the pink Puff. Yet he wasn't moving… he wasn't attacking…

"Mister Mitchelson! Please take your seat!" Mr. Kazuhiro sighed taking his glasses off to rub his eyes. "Alright boys. You're free to choose any seat you want."

'Easy for him to say. There's only three open. Right…next to Blossom…I don't know if I should be happy about that…'

Butch made his way to the back shuffling down the rows and seated himself directly next to the redhead. Boomer took the chair in front of him, leaving Brick with the chair to his right.

In a way this was a good thing. Brick was farther away from Blossom. But that also meant Butch was now in the line of crossfire. 'What did I do to deserve this?'

He began fidgeting in his seat as Brick glared, sure he wasn't technically glaring at him but it was still uncomfortable. It didn't help that Buttercup, sitting diagonally from him, was sending the occasional 'Im-gonna-massacre-you-if-you-even-breath-in-my-direction' glare. 'Friendly huh?'

Boomer was now playing his "'Dumb Blonde'"card and starring off into space. 'Probably prancing around in la la land again.'

Blossom didn't even look at him. It was like she was in her own little world. Not quite like Boomers little world, more like an impenetrable bubble. Even Brick's deadly glare seemed to have no effect on the girl. It was like they weren't even there. 'This was gonna be a long day…'

•••000•••

Wee. New chapter. I don't know. I just felt like writing this today. I'm kinda stuck on what to write for my other story right now so I'm keeping myself busy until I figure it out.

Well I hope this chapter made sense. I feel like it didn't turn out how I wanted. I realized my writing style is a bit off. I'm sort of stuck in it being some sort of cross between first and third person perspectives… if that even makes sense.

Oh well. Anyway I just decided to update this. And before any of you decide to say something about this not being Sci-Fi I'm not there yet. I had a sort of Ben Ten-ish idea for this. Right now it's just about them meeting again. It'll pick up again later, after I settle everything.

And once again, please don't expect regular updates for this particular story. I fully intend on prioritizing Ragnarök over this.

And just like my last chapter was this one is currently nameless and up for ideas. So if you think up a title and send it in maybe I'll like it and name it that.

Please leave a review. Thank you. ^_^


	3. PR3:

PR 3:

Disclaimer: With the exception of plot lines none of the following material belongs to me, all credit goes to the original owners.

Not sure how I'm gonna fit this in correctly but I decided to squeeze it between the old chapters for more detail, might be short, might be long, don't know yet. Hopefully it works.

•••000•••

'What are they doing here? What are they doing here! I was NOT told ANYTHING about this! Their WAY ahead of schedule! They aren't supposed to be here for months, possibly another year!'

Fuming silently, furtive pink orbs darted about the room, keenly aware of every movement from the three males beside her. Having schooled her facial expressions for so long, Blossom easily concealed her discomfort from them. Letting her fingers work on autopilot at the keys of her laptop Blossom took the time to scrutinize each boy.

Starting with the blue brother, Boomer, she observed his tense posture, the way he sat perfectly straight in the chair, eyes trained on the teacher. Aside from the occasional scribble of the pencil he hardly moved an inch. Even when Blossom relaxed, allowing him to feel the presence of her eyes upon him the boy remained frozen in place. The only evidence of him having acknowledged her was the slight clench of his shoulder muscles, just visible against the loose fabric. That and the suddenly overpowering stench of nervousness permeating the air.

This triggered a few, less-than-pleasant thoughts scampering through the back of her mind. The mildly foreign feel of a growl bubbled up in her throat from the stirring thoughts that were only partially her own.

Mentally reprimanding herself, Blossom turned her attentions to the second brother making sure to only look with her peripheral since he himself was staring at her. While Boomer posed no obvious or immediate threat, Butch garnered a health dosage of suspicion.

The green Ruff seemed completely at ease. His relaxed posture radiating calm happiness. Slouching in his chair, Butch stretched his legs out beneath the desk, leaning foreword and resting his chin on his fist.

This in itself served as more of a relaxing effect. What bugged her was the more than obvious scent of lust blanketing his form. Blossom could FEEL his eyes hungrily trailing over her, the tidal waves of his emotion hitting full force.

Suddenly regretting her choice in clothing for the day, Blossom tried her hardest not to squirm in discomfort. It wouldn't do to have him knowing that he bothered her.

"Mmmmrrrrrr…" Baritone vibrations, far too low for normal ears to perceive rumbled, drawing her attention from Butch.

Looking up over her laptop screen Blossom eyed Buttercup wearily. Said sister was fidgeting in her chair, arms folded over the surface of her desk, she had buried her face in them. Peeking through the small gap beneath her shoulder to glare at her counterpart she bared a single sharp fang against her pink lips, that low growl rumbling from somewhere deep in her chest.

'Not now!' Blossom stared purposefully at the back of the ravens head, willing her sister to hear her unspoken request.

As it were, things just don't work that way and Buttercup continued with her glaring and growling, impervious to anything that was not in her line of sight. In other words, anything that didn't involve Butch being massacred.

'Damn it, that girl is gonna get us in trouble!'

The tension in the air doubled then tripled as the Mitch and the twins began fidgeting, aware of their friends state of unease. A fight was becoming a definite factor with the rate things were going.

"Mr. Jojo, would you mind answering the question on the board?" Mr. Kazuhiro's calm voice cut through the air like a hot knife through butter.

"Um…which one?" Boomer mumbled, indicating himself before pointing out his siblings.

Sighing loudly, Mr. Kazuhiro adjusted his glasses, placed his open book down on the desk, and scanned over the classroom roster. "Hmm…Butch."

Too preoccupied with his task at hand, Butch didn't seem to notice, a fact that did not escape the perceptive teacher. "Butch? Mr. Jojo?" Blossom noted the subtle twitch of Mr. Kazuhiro's left eye as he turned back to the board.

…

"OOWWW!" Butch yowled, gripping his head after being hit both between the eyes by a piece of chalk and smacked over the head by Brick. "What was that for?"

"Idiot." Brick propped his face up in his palm, attention now on the teacher, only occasionally glaring at Blossom.

"Now that you have rejoined us, please answer the question." picking his book back up, Mr. Kazuhiro tapped on the board just beneath the chalked lettering.

"Ugh…"

"Maybe if you were paying more attention to my class instead of making goggly eyes at Ms. Utonium here you would be able to answer it." Giving Butch a stern look, Mr. Kazuhiro readjusted his glasses. "Now I suggest you pay attention."

Mumbling obscenities and complaining about why people liked hitting him so much, Butch scribbled angrily on his paper.

Buttercup snickered quietly.

Butch glared and flicked a paper wad.

Buttercup threw her notebook at him, grinning in smug triumph as the corner connected with his temple.

"Ow, bitch!" Rubbing at his temple, Butch glared at the raven haired girl. Without a second thought and a spark of forest green he zapped Buttercup with a jolt of energy.

She yelped in surprise, jumping up and covering her offended back side. For a brief moment Buttercup's emerald eyes flashed biohazard green, fists clenching repeatedly. The green Puff didn't hesitate to draw her fist back, ready to nail the boy in the face.

•••***•••

It was so weird, he was geared for a fight waiting for his counterpart to hit him. She had even drawn her arm back, she was just about to swing and suddenly she just stops… for no reason.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't anticipating a fight, it had been too long since he last hit something that could hold up to his strength. Something that wouldn't break just because he was a little too, well, Ruff.

Being a superhuman meant that you always had to monitor your strength. Even something as simple as opening a door was a delicate process, if you grabbed the handle too tight it would crush, or if you pushed too hard it wound fly open, sometimes off it's hinges, or even splinter into bits. The thought of letting loose and not having to worry about his own strength had Butch positively drooling. But things just never worked out quite the way he wanted them to.

In a split second, Buttercup had gone from attack mode to a frightening calm. The girl wasn't even paying attention to him, instead focused on her sister in which a one sided glaring contest had ensued.

Something flickered in the corners of his vision, a swift movement, almost like a snake, on the floor next to his feet. Looking down Butch was mildly confused to not find anything at all.

Brushing it off he returned his attention to the girls beside him, Buttercup was no longer standing, planted firmly in her seat looking like a scolded pup. He blinked, turning to Blossom who looked just as calm as ever, aside from the slight twitch of her lip.

For some reason he could swear he felt a sort of vibration, like a low rumble coming from somewhere in the girls direction. It was gone in moments so he wasn't really sure if he was imagining it or not.

Brushing it off he went back to his not-so-subtle starring. Hey, he couldn't help it if the chick was hot. Be it those mile long legs or that perfect waist. Perhaps it was that curvaceous figure of hers, whatever it was he couldn't help the need to undress her with his eyes.

He was a guy after all, you can't really blame him for appreciating the female body in all it's voluptuous glory.

Maybe he was just starring too long, or maybe his imagination was getting the best of him but Butch could swear he was beginning to catch her glancing in his direction.

She was starting to look nervous, edgy, the longer he watched. He off handedly wondered if she could possibly feel him watching her. Probably. Or maybe she was finally noticing the vicious glares Brick was sending their way. The guy was very nearly boring a hole into the back of the ravens head with those crimson eyes of his.

A few minutes later she finally moved, sifting around in that large side bag of hers. He blinked, she was putting her things away. Where was she going? Class just started not even ten minutes ago.

"Hey idiot, you gonna just sit there or what?"

"What?" Butch looked up at Boomer who for some reason was standing in front of his desk.

"Class is over dumb ass." an irritated Buttercup growled at him. "But I guess you wouldn't know that since you were too busy staring at my sister to notice."

Butch was only half listening, dumping his things back into his bag, watching as the redhead sauntered through the classroom door, his blonde brother a few respectful paces behind.

Green was suddenly the only thing he could see, it took Butch a whole five seconds before he realized he was starring into a pair of green eyes. Very angry, very dangerous green eyes.

"I'm gonna say this one time, and one time ONLY so you better pay attention!" Grasping the collar of his shirt, Buttercup yanked him forward until a scant inch remained between them. "Back. Off!"

Chuckling at her little display, Butch casually leaned into her grip, letting her feel like she was in control of the situation. He learned from experience that girls were a lot easier to deal with when they thought things were going their way.

"And if I don't?"

"You'll have me to deal with." Buttercups green eyes narrowed to slits.

"Hmm, docent sound too bad." giving her a sly grin, Butch bravely or stupidly, he couldn't decide at the time, reached out and trailed his fingers over her side. "Your pretty easy on the eyes yourself." With that said, Butch did the stupidest thing of the day.

He groped her ass.

Butch had always had a deep baritone voice, so it really came as a shock that it could reach so high a pitch. Then again, pain worked wonders on the body.

"Mommy!"

"OUCH!"

"Aaaaaggghhhhaaaaaa!"

Three pained squeals chorused in the class room as Mitch collapsed on the floor, Floyd hunched over, and Harry crouched down, each one wide eyed and covering vital pieces of the male anatomy.

"What is wrong with you?" Butch so desperately wanted to shout but all that came out was a pained squeak. Hands cupped firmly between his legs the boy rolled along the tiled ground, curling into himself.

"If you ever touch my ass again…" Buttercup left the threat hanging in the air as she lowered her raised leg. Helping herself to his schedule she gave it a once over before turning her attention back to the boys and snapped her fingers at the brunet. "Mitch, your next class is with this idiot so take the moron with ya."

"Yes ma'am." Mitch nodded rapidly, fear evident on his emotional face. Scrambling to his feet the brunet scooped up the still writhing boy. "Guys gimme a hand here would ya?"

Skirting their way around Buttercup the twins grasped the now semiconscious Butch by his shoulders and placed him on Mitch's back. Leaning forward Mitch shifted around a little, sliding his skateboard under the other teen like a make shift seat.

"How do I always end up pack mule?" Mitch off handedly questioned as an afterthought, standing up slowly.

"Cause your whipped?" Harry asked innocently.

"I though is was because he's Buttercup's bitch." Floyd gave his twin a look, confusion plastered across his face.

Mitch gave them a blank look, he was not pleased. Making a point of ignoring them, he trudged out of the room, leaving the twins to carry the bags as they hurried to class.

•••***•••

'Dumb ass! I swear I'm related to a bunch of protozoic brained neanderthalls!' Stomping down the halls, the teen took no notice of his fellow students as they scrambled out of his way.

Brick was pretty used to such behavior, being a superhuman usually came with a healthy dose of fear from any person within seeing distance. Not many people WOULD want to get in your way when you were usually twice their size and could kick their ass into the next galaxy without breaking a sweat.

Ignoring the attention, Brick wandered around campus. It was a free period and he had nothing to do. The library wasn't all that interesting, their collection wasn't nearly up to standards, and there wasn't much else to this cesspool they were calling an educational facility. Maybe he could sneak out and have a look around town.

Yah, that sounded like a pretty good idea. He could scope out the place and find what was around, perhaps even find something remotely worth his time, thought that was a very high improbability. At the very least he'd know for a fact just how backwater the place was so he could yell at Mojo about it later.

Speaking of Mojo, he was gonna have a very long talk with that simian for not telling them their arch nemesis were in this same town. He had better not come up with some bull shit about not knowing they were here, there was no possible way he could have missed them.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets Brick waltzed through the courtyard, not caring who saw him. It wasn't like they would, or even could for that matter, stop him.

Reaching the street he stopped for a brief moment. For some reason he suddenly wasn't feeling all that great, maybe it was all this stupid country air. It wasn't all that bad in the school but he could still smell all that farm stench hanging around in the breeze.

Perhaps he could hang around in the nurses office instead, at least there all the medicines and alcohol would drown out the smell.

Rerouteing his course, Brick made his way across the campus again. He passed a few classrooms on the way, occasionally glancing in through the little windows on the doors.

He spotted Boomer in one of the classes, it took no more than a moment to see that the blond was uncomfortable, and it wasn't difficult to figure out why. Buttercup was seated directly behind him looking like a guard dog with rabies.

As if she knew he were there Buttercup was suddenly glaring out the window, emerald orbs locking on crimson. There was something different about her, something in that look wasn't quite right. He couldn't place his finger on what it was though.

"Why aren't you in class?" Whipping around, Brick tried not to jump clean out of his skin at the voice directly behind him.

Red…lots of red and black… a hat? Mentally smacking himself in the head, Brick shifted his gaze downward at the shorter person.

'Oh great.' Rolling his eyes, Brick turned back towards the nurses office, rudely ignoring the redheaded girl. He could hear her huff quietly wether from annoyance or whatever else it was still mildly satisfying in some weird way.

Clunk, clunk, clunk.

Brick growled quietly.

Tap, tap, tap.

'Damn it…'

Tap, tap, tap.

The frayed temper and waning control Brick had been battling with all day finally snapped. Bright red took over his vision and before he knew it he had Blossom by the throat, pinned to a wall.

Brick blinked, momentarily surprised, he didn't remember turning around or even having grabbed her. Then again, his temper often got the best of him. His surprise didn't last long, he was annoyed again in seconds.

Normally, a person would flinch in a threatening situation. If they are surprised they would twitch, gasp, or become wide eyed. They might fight back, or try to run away. If that wasn't an option at the very least they would struggle.

But not this stupid girl.

Blossom wasn't moving, not even a twitch. Those cool magenta orbs just as dull and boring as they had been when he first saw her hours ago. How stoic could a person get?

"Are you quite done yet?" Blossom smoothly inquired, voice level as she stared him in the eye.

"No, I wanna know why the fuck your following me!" Brick growled, tightening his grip on her throat. He knew it was uncomfortably tight but still she didn't react.

"Somebody's a little paranoid don't you think?"

"Don't get smart with me, now answer the question!" How was she still so calm, he was almost definitely choking her by now.

"The principals office is over there, right next to the nurses office." Blossom stated matter-of-factly.

Her outline blurred, Brick blinked and suddenly she was gone.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with Ms. Keane." He turned just as she disappeared through a large oak door nearly forty or so feet away.

'How the Hell?' Brick flexed his fingers a little. He was sure he had had a tight grip on her.

Something tickled his hand, drawing attention from the door to his palm. He saw nothing, but Brick was sure there was something there. He could FEEL it in the middle of his palm.

Closing his hand into a fist, Brick continued to his destination. The nurse looked up from whatever book she was reading to give him a once over as he stepped through the door.

She was a plump little woman with rather pale skin and dirty blonde hair tied into a neat bun. With a delicate sniff she turned back to her book.

"If your cutting class I suggest you head back."

"Free period." Brick grumbled softly. For some reason he felt the need to be quiet around the soft spoken lady.

"Hmm…alright, but don't you be touching anything while your here." Snuffing a little more, she cleared her throat, coughing a high barkish sound. "You can sit over there."

Gesturing towards the back of the room she buried herself back into her book, not sparring Brick another glance.

Murmuring a soft thanks, he walked off deeper into the room and sank into the plush cushions of a small chair.

Pulling his hands from his pockets, Brick dropped his bag unceremoniously on the floor. This earned him a short glare. Waiting until she turned back to her book, Brick examined his hand again.

It still itched, like a cobweb or hair was stuck to his palm. Rubbing his hand with his opposite fingers he managed to grab onto the invisible object.

It was soft, not unlike silk, or perhaps it really was hair, but why couldn't he see it? He could sure as Hell feel it. Raising it up to the light he grinned having found a solution.

Though the strand itself was invisible Brick could make out a soft ember red shine. It WAS hair. His thoughts immediately returned to Blossom, it was the same color as her own hair and had probably gotten stuck to him when he grabbed her.

But it was short… Blossom's hair was at least a good four to five feet in length, this strand was only a few inches. Not even half a foot.

"What have you got there?" for the second time that day, Brick nearly jumped out of his skin, the nurse appearing beside him.

'What the fuck is with these people? Do they just pop out of thin air or something?' Blossom he could understand, she was a superhuman after all, but how did this woman sneak up on him like that? He hadn't heard her get up, hadn't heard her footsteps, not even seen her move even though she was seated directly in his line of sight.

"May I ask why you've got a piece of fur?" she inquired, reaching out the nurse plucked the strand from his fingers as if she could see it plain as day.

Brick was seconds away from snapping at the pudgy woman when her words finally registered.

"Fur?"

"Yes, fur." she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "What did you think it was?"

"I though it was hair…" Brick sank back into the confines of his mind. Technically fur is hair, but people usually only used the term in reference to animals. So it if it was fur instead of hair, what was it doing on Blossom? And why can't he see it?

Slipping further into his own thoughts Brick never noticed to way the nurse looked at him strangely, as if he had grown a second head. Never noticed how she had suddenly leaned into his personal space to sniff at him, and certainly not the way her eyes widened in an almost panicked fashion when she jerked away.

"Terribly sorry, I forgot there something I need to go and get." the little woman practically yanked him to his feet, hurrying him to the door and shooing him out.

Brick didn't even have the time to get mad at her for touching him before the door was closed in his face.

'Why that little…' he contemplated breaking the door down and giving her a piece of his mind. It would make him feel better, but he might end up hurting her and that would just wind him up with more problems than he needed. He had enough of those as it was.

Grumbling silently, Brick stomped his way past the principals office, vaguely wondering what his stupid counterpart had to talk about.

"I know dear, the boys are far ahead of schedule." a muffled voice echoed through the door. Brick paid no attention, he had no clue who was talking or what was being discussed anyways. "But you've seen them, the redhead…"

"Brick." Blossom's voice interjected when the previous one paused for a moment.

Aaaand now it concerned him. His name came up, they were obviously talking about him and his brothers. Floating silently around the small office building Brick stopped just beside a window.

He could see two figures in the room. One was Blossom and the other must have been the principal. She was about medium sized, a bit closer to the short end but not terribly so. Black hair, friendly blue eyes, she had the look of a mother about her.

"Yes, that was the name, now where was-" the principal began.

"No-" Blossom cut her off, raising a hand and motioning for silence. Brick saw Blossom close her eyes, tilting her head slightly.

He blinked.

Magenta orbs stared into crimson when Blossom suddenly appeared before the window, glaring at him for a moment before closing the sliding glass and shutting the curtain.

'What is with these freaking fast people?'

Brick couldn't make out the rest of the conversation no matter how hard he tried. It was like the room was sound proofed. Then again, with superhumans around it probably was.

•••***•••

"WHAT? Are you freaking out of your mind?"

"I know, I'm not exactly thrilled about this either."

"Are you forgetting? These are the ROWDYRUFF'S were talking about here! They don't just start coming to school with us!"

"Buttercup, I KNOW your unhappy with this but your just going to have to tolerate them."

Cursing, said teen paced in tight circles along the roots of a tree on the edge of campus. Blossom leaned against the trunk, arms folded, the now forward facing hat covering what was surely an irritated expression. Mitch hung from a branch high above them, the twins several paces away. The three of them had learned when and when not to get involved.

"Well, to be honest, I figured they'd be showing up eventually." Buttercup finally conceded, sighing loudly she flopped down upon a tangle of roots. Not minding the dirt and grass she made herself comfortable. "I just didn't expect it to be so soon."

Blossom gave a slight jerk, head twitching up as she eyed her sister from beneath the brim of her hat, a thoughtful expression on her usually blank face.

The action did not go unnoticed. Shifting around a bit more, Buttercup finally settled down, lying back until her head lolled over the top of the thick root.

"Ya don't seriously think I didn't know didja?" Buttercup grinned smugly at the ill concealed shock on Blossom's upside down form. "It was pretty damn obvious ever since Blaze showed up."

Closing her eyes, Blossom composed herself before speaking up again. "I don't see how this has anything to do with-"

"I'm not stupid!" Buttercup snapped, cutting her off. Rolling over she dug her nails into the thick tree bark, mouth curling into an irritated scowl in a way that bared her teeth. "Ya may have fooled Bubbles, which is honestly a surprise cause it so freaking obvious that it might as well bite her in the ass, but you don't fool me."

Round two of the starring contest began. Magenta and emerald both searching for signs of weakness.

This time it was Blossom's turn to back down. Her eyes darted down and to the right, settling on a blade of grass that was currently the home of a hungry inch worm.

With a decisive snort Buttercup rolled back over. It was nice to win an argument with the redhead once in a while.

"So whens their first Run?" Buttercup questioned after a few minutes of silence. She didn't bother looking back this time, contented to gaze at the drifting clouds instead.

"Not sure yet." Blossom replied, one could practically hear the frown in her voice. "Gotta talk to Mojo about it later."

"Well, tell me when ya figure it out so I can NOT be there."

A low whistle pierced the air just as Blossom opened her mouth to respond. Her jaw snapped shut with a soft click, both girls glancing up at Mitch. The brunet sat on the branch high above, fixated on something off to the left.

Blossom huffed, tilting the baseball cap further down over her eyes. Buttercup growled, already more than irritated as she spotted the dark, green and black figure approaching them.

"Hey man, ya feeling any better?" Harry asked with his usual cheerful demeanor.

"Yah, was quite the kick you got." Floyd agreed, nodding his head in greeting.

"M'fine." The raven teen grunted, casting Buttercup a quick glare.

'This is gonna be a LONG day.'

•••000•••

Woo! I finished another chapter. Yay. I hope I didn't make this too hard to follow. I decided that I needed more in my story and decided to add a few chapters here or there to fill up the days a little since I always feel like I'm rushing things along. The next few chapters will probably just be improvised versions of the already existing ones with maybe a little more detail every so often.

Sorry for taking so long to update. I sort of lost my inspiration somewhere along the way so I'm kinda just moseying my way along trying to come up with new ideas for my stories.

Thanks for reading, please leave a review and tell me what ya think. ^_^ 


	4. PR4: Waiting for the Explosion

PR 4: Waiting for the Explosion

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

•••000•••

'It feels like an eternity. How long have I been sitting here? When will that damn clock move? I WANNA GET OUT OF HERE ALREADY!'

Cobalt orbs glared holes into the wall mounted clock. When would that handle reach the two? He's been here all day! Ok so it's only been an hour but really. If he had to spend even five more minutes with Butch and his new friend he was gonna shank them both with his screwdriver! And yes! He DID have the screwdriver, he needed it for robotics.

Frankly he was quite surprised that the day was nearly over, and without a single hitch. He had fully expected Brick to go psycho and pick a fight with the Puffs the moment they walked into the class. He was pleasantly surprised when his older brother seemed to settle for vicious glares instead of a full blown fight. Though how long that would last, no one knew for certain.

Boomer had spent the entire day on edge, worrying about when Brick would finally snap. The worse part was, he hadn't seen hide or hair of his brother since that morning when he had conveniently vanished as soon as first hour was over. He just hoped Brick hadn't encountered any of the girls since then.

Buttercup was in most of his classes, which meant she wouldn't have been anywhere near the red Ruff. Boomer hadn't seen Bubbles around at all but according to Butch she was in several of his classes so that crossed her off as well. The only puff NOT accounted for, was Blossom, the very epitome of Brick's fury.

Much like his brother, Boomer had lost track of the pink eyed girl. He caught sight of her a few times in passing, for instance he had seen her in the stairwell at one point and out in the courtyard at lunch. As far ad classes went though…he just hoped she was as far as possible from Brick.

Honestly, Boomer didn't even understand why Brick was so mad. It happened so many years ago. Even Mojo was ok with the girls now, and he hated them more than the Ruffs ever could. Hell, even Butch, the resident battle lusting psycho was barley mad anymore. And Butch was ALWAYS looking for an excuse to pick a fight.

Speaking of Butch…for the sake of the green Ruffs well being, that bell had better ring, and SOON! Boomer was already pulling hairs!

Since Brick wasn't trying to murder anyone, yet, Butch had started acting as if nothing could possibly go wrong. He had even made friends with that weird guy that had been screaming his head off that morning. Which made things difficult seeing as the guy was also friends with Buttercup.

On the upside she wasn't too openly hostile and seemed to tolerate Butch as long as he stayed at least five feet away from her at all times. Butch didn't seem to understand this though and had invaded her space. Thankfully Blossom had been there as well and Buttercup only kicked him out of her area before swearing profusely and ignoring him once more.

Butch was really pushing his luck though. Boomer always knew his brother was a pervert but this, oh he was getting on the blues last nerves.

While Boomer had spent the entire day trying his utmost to avoid the Puffs, Butch had spent the day mooning over the three and following them around like a lost puppy. To top it off he and his new friend Mitch were rambling non stop about how hot the girls were. If he had to hear one more sentence about 'how sexy Buttercups ass was' or 'how big Bubbles's breast were' or heaven forbid, how they wanted to do 'that' with Blossoms 'sexy curves'. THESE WERE NOT CHILD FRIENDLY CONVERSATIONS!

RING!

'HALLELUJAH, MAYBE THERE IS A GOD!' without wasting a second, Boomer hastily shoved all his books into his bag an ran out the door.

•••***•••

He was almost out. Just one more corner.

"Aaahh!"

"Eeek!"

SMASH!

"Oooow…" Groaning loudly, Boomer lay sprawled on the pavement. Items from his bag scattered across the hall.

"Ouch… Oh my gosh! Are you ok?" a feminine voice called beside him.

"Hehe. Shouldn't I be asking you that?" sitting up, Boomer shook his head, smiling wearily.

"It was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." dainty fingers came into his line of sight as the girl hastily gathered the fallen items. "Sorry about that."

"Probably both of us then. I wasn't looking either. Sorry." Shifting onto his knees he gathered the many books he dropped tossing them absently into his bag.

"Hey… your into robotics?" Glancing up, Boomer noticed the girl holding out a bunch of his microchips.

"Y-yah. Just a little." taking them from her he gently put them into his bag. Hopefully they didn't break. At least she held them properly and didn't damage them more like most people did. "Thanks."

"No problem, my sisters into robotics and mechanics too." she explained picking up her binder. "I learned how not to damage them. She gets pretty mad if I do."

"Haha! I know that feeling all too well. My bros usually mess up my microchips. Maybe you could introduce us later." It wasn't often that he found other people that were interested in robotics. Most thought it was boring.

Standing up and brushing herself off the girl reach to help him up. Gasping her hand he stood, dusting himself off. "By the way, your new here aren't you?"

"Yah. Me and my brothers just moved from the city."

"Well it's nice to meet you. We don't get new people around here too often. My names Bubbles."

Freezing like a statue his eyes bugged out. Hands still over his chest Boomer looked up at the girl. 'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!'

"You don't look so good." Bubbles's eyebrows furrowed as she gave him a worried look. She must not have recognized him. "Are you sure your ok?"

"Y-yah! Fine, fine! I'm ok! I-I gotta go now. Later!" spinning around he hastily walked off leaving a confused Bubbles behind.

"Hey! Wait! You-"

Kicking it into gear, the blue booked down the hall and out the door not waiting for her to finish.

•••***•••

Once outside Boomer had found Butch again, dragging him away from a pissed off Buttercup and confused Mitch.

They seated themselves on a wall outside of the school. Waiting patiently for Brick to show so they could go wait for Mojo to pick them up for that appointment. Well Boomer was patient, Butch was acting like an idiot, crowing at everything with breasts and a pair of legs.

The looks they were getting only made matters worse. Most of the girls just ignored Butch's catcalls but quite a few were checking them out as well. Why did girls like 'Bad boy' idiots like Butch anyway? They were brothers and all but that didn't stop Boomer from thinking he was a jerk.

Seriously what was so great about the green Ruff? What was their definition of a 'Bad Boy' anyway? If anything Butch looked more like a punk or something with his jet black hair tied into that high ponytail the fringe covering one eye. His baggy black pants hanging halfway off his ass looking ready to fall at any second whether there was a belt or not. -Which there was, it really didn't do much beside stab the guy with it's many spikes though. Even the hanging chain helped more.- His tight, neon green and black camo printed tank top and spiked collar. So the guy had muscle and showed it off, big whoop! All the Ruffs had muscle, you didn't see them running around showing it to the world. Obviously the girls seemed to find it attractive though. And the ones that weren't looking at Butch were beginning to look at him as well.

It made him feel like a sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves. They were all eyeballing him like a side of beef. The blue Ruff quickly found himself wishing he could just crawl under a rock or something.

Though he had long ago found there existence to be proven false, Boomer was still at the 'Girls have cooties' stage. Sure he had reached puberty, Hell, he went through it before Brick did. The hormones that came with it seemed to be lost on the youngest Ruff though. It didn't seem to affect him in the way it did for his brothers. Maybe he WAS just an idiot after all.

Then again…if it meant he'd start acting anything like Butch…he'd much rather be considered retarded. Dude was making a fool out of himself, and HE was the supposed idiot, yah right, Butch beat him by a mile at least.

Finally, when Boomer seriously began worrying about whether or not he'd have to start beating the girls off with a stick or something, Bricks bright red cap bobbed into view.

'Savior thy name is Brick' sighing in relief, Boomer ran over to his elder brothers side. Just as expected, the girls promptly scattered upon seeing the glowering red approach. Being Brick's brother occasionally had it's advantages. His antisocial attitude worked as a great girl repellant. Unfortunately that could also work in reverse if the redhead deemed fit. In those instances… He would rather not think about that…

Suppressing a shudder, Boomer smiled brightly at his brother. Brick's glare never faltered though he did give a small nod of acknowledgment. From the corner of his eye, Boomer saw Butch twitch under Brick's gaze. Boomer had gotten used to Brick's angry faces a long time ago. He didn't think much of it especially since he figured out that it wasn't always because Brick was mad. It seemed to be more of a safety feature most of the time than actual anger.

Following them further down the road, Boomer quietly observed the town as they waited for Mojo. It wasn't so bad. It was small, sure, but that was ok. It seemed pretty friendly.

About a block from the school was a small mall sort of area with a handful of different clothes stores. There was a cafe and a big grocery store. A medium sized hardware and electronics shop. He even saw an arcade with a little book shop next to it. There were a few more stores around the corner too. Over all it was nice, cozy. It sort of gave him that warm fuzzy feel. This was the kind of place that you could walk through town and know every person you pass by name. The sort where everyone was like one big, albeit dysfunctional, family.

He could get used to this. Sure the Puffs were living somewhere around here as well but he didn't mind. As long as they didn't cause trouble for him and his brothers, Boomer was all for it.

Mojo pulled up then with his beat up old car. He really needed to get something new to drive. The prehistoric hunk of junk was ready to kick the bucket. Or he could at least let Butch take a look at it. Butch was pretty smart when it came to cars. Mojo wouldn't have any of it though, he insisted it was an antique and needed to be respected as such. Boomer was just counting the seconds until it finally gave out.

•••***•••

It didn't take them long before they reached the clinic. In a town this small he hadn't expected much, but this was unnerving. The place was clean and all with white walls and a cheerful array of plants on the outside. But it scared the blond a bit. The place gave him the 'We treat people as well as animals' vibe.

Needless to say he wasn't exactly eager to go in.

Stepping reluctantly from the car, Boomer followed Mojo's shuffling form out of the small parking lot.

"Yo Boomer. Come er for a sec." Butch called stopping him. For some reason he was glancing around nervously. Not a good sign.

Brick paused at the doors and gave them a look before continuing in. Once the redhead was gone Butch's nervous look melted into full blown panic.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is very, very bad!" Butch muttered under his breath, pacing in small circles with his hands on his head.

"What are you talking about now? I thought you already got over that needle phobia."

"It's NOT the needles I'm worried about!" Butch whisper shouted through his teeth. "I'm worried about Brick!"

"Huh?" Tilting his head to the side he stared blankly at Butch. "Why would you be worried about Brick?"

"Do you not see the car parked right there?" twitching slightly Butch pointed at a brightly painted car behind him.

"Okay…It's really nice but what does that have to do with Brick?"

"You don't get it man! That's BLOSSOM'S car!"

Turning back around he questioned. "How do you know that's even her car?"

"She was driving it this morning!"

'Oh…OH…Uh-oh…'

"Guys! Get in here!" They whirled around towards Brick who stood in the doorway shouting at them. Like scolded children they complied, running over without a second thought.

•••***•••

Sitting in the waiting room Boomer tried his best not to draw attention to himself. Mojo sat across from him reading a book. Butch twitched nervously to his right sandwiched between him and Brick.

This was becoming torture all over again. Hopefully, if he was lucky, none of the girls would show up. That way Brick would stay calm. The red seriously needed anger management classes. Boomer was no doctor, but even he knew it wasn't good to bottle up your anger that much. He'd been on the receiving end once before and that was a time he'd gladly forget.

He couldn't even remember what had set Brick off, but the Ruff had exploded like a nuclear bomb. If it weren't for HIM throwing him into that dimensional pocket, Brick might have destroyed half the state.

An elbow in his side brought Boomer tumbling back to reality. He shot Butch a glare before looking up to the clerk waiving him over. "You can go in now. Down the hall, it's the forth door on your right."

"R-right. Thanks." getting up, he headed down the corridor. Opening the door he stepped into the small room.

"Mojo, your next appointment isn't for another two weeks." seated in front of a wall mounted computer, back facing him, was a very familiar figure. "You haven't been eating those banana crackers again ha-… ah, take a seat."

Should he be running now? This day just kept getting better didn't it? By the way that was sarcasm…

Closing the door behind him, Boomer stiffly made his way over to the table/couch thing. He could never remember what it was called. He sat quietly, eyeing his 'Doctor' nervously. 'These people are gonna turn me into a paranoid, nervous wreak!'

In the corner of the room, typing away at the computer in a white overcoat and slim, professional glasses, was none other than little Miss Blossom Utonium herself. Why the heck was SHE here? What was she even doing? There was no way a high school student could be certified as a doctor. Unless she was an intern or something.

Pausing for a moment, Blossom reached up and tapped a few frames on the wall before returning to the computer keys, not once looking away from the screen.

Cobalt eyes bugged once more as Boomer stared in shock. There were at least a dozen frames hanging along the wall with various different medical degrees. Each and every one proudly stating in big, bold letters 'Blossom Utonium'.

"Alright, according to your record you've already had your average physical, correct?" Blossom glanced up from the computer screen waiting until he gave a silent nod. "Good. Being that you are of powered origins I'll have to schedule you for further examinations. Other than that it's just a routine check up and it looks like… three vaccinations. Ok, please remove all excess items and step on the scale."

This was the most he had heard her talk. Ever. Nodding absently, Boomer complied, removing his cellphone an MP3 player, his house keys and anything else he had on him. Slipping out of his shoes, he stepped onto the cold metal.

Blossom recoded his weight on a little clipboard before directing him to the wall. There she checked his height then sent him back to the examination table. She proceeded to go over the routine procedure doctors always did like checking his blood pressure, his eyes, breathing, etc. She even took his temperature before walking over to the door.

"Alright, please wait here for a moment and I'll be right back for your vaccinations."

While he waited Boomer put away all the things he had taken out. Why the heck was there a game boy in his pocket? Oh yah, it was for parts.

Knock knock

Two sharp raps on the door and Blossom was back in the room with three syringes on a small metal tray. Walking over she placed the tray on the table next to him. Boomer stared wide eyed at the sharp device in her hand.

"Don't worry. It's not going to kill you. Now pull up your sleeve." she told him in a flat tone.

He stared for a moment longer before complying. With a gulp he pulled up his sleeve. She wiped his arm with what he guessed was rubbing alcohol and gave him the shot. Dabbing it lightly, she continued, not bothering to place a band-aid over the spot. He didn't need it anyway, it would heal over the second the needle was removed. It hadn't even occurred to him to ask how the needle had pierced through his skin instead of breaking.

Placing the second syringe on the tray next to the first Blossom sighed quietly. It sounded almost like…exasperation? Boomer rubbed his arms lightly, waiting. He glanced at the tray. 'What about that third shot…?'

"Okay. Unfortunately, these particular vaccinations are of a different variety. It's specially made for powered beings and cannot be administered in the same limb as any previous injections."

"…" Boomer stared, uncomprehending for a moment trying to process the meaning behind her words. Realization dawned then, a wave of heat washing over his face, staining his cheeks scarlet as he chuckled nervously.

'Oh dear, she was serious.' Face burning brighter than her hair Boomer stood up.

"They don't have to come off, I just need to reach your thigh." Blossom assured looking unfazed. "Normally I'd ask if you'd be more comfortable with a male but there are none in today."

"IM NOT GAY!" Boomer nearly shouted.

"I never said you were."

Boomers entire face was now a bright red as he unbuckled his belt. Clinging to his jeans, he allowed them to slide just low enough to reach the leg of his boxers. Pulling them up slightly, he flinched as the cold air hit his bare thigh.

'Why today of all days did I have to wear the boxers with space ships on them? Why didn't I wear the plain blue ones?'

"Ok, this might sting a little." Wiping over the area, Blossom pushed the needle into his skin. A few seconds after she removed it a sharp burning sensation pierced his leg.

"Oowww!"

"I said it would sting."

"It's not just stinging! ITS BURNING!" Boomer whined, rubbing his leg profusely. He didn't even notice that he had released his jeans and they had fallen to the floor until the door flew open.

Fast as lightning he snatched them back up, turning his back just as Butch barged into the room.

"Dude! How long are you gonna- …am I interrupting something?" Butch questioned grinning like a perverted old man.

Blossom just blinked once before turning to the computer. "Routine check up…check. Vaccination…check. Alright, your ready to go."

Buttoning his pants back in place, Boomer slipped around Butch's grinning form into the hall, still blushing like mad.

"Since your already here, you'll go next." Boomer heard Blossom tell Butch as he walked away.

"Yes Nurse." Butch flirted. Glancing back, Boomer saw Butch wink at him before closing the door, that stupid perverted grin on his face the whole time.

•••***•••

Boomer couldn't help but laugh when Butch finally returned from the office. The green Ruff had a fear of shots and could be heard yowling like a dying cat moments ago.

"It burns, it burns, it burns, it burns, it burns!" Presently he was hopping from leg to leg rubbing his ass profusely, whining and cursing about how much said ass burned. He wouldn't even sit down and was practically dancing circles around his chair.

Oh this was hilarious! Boomer was never gonna forget this!

His joy was cut short when Brick stood up and walked down the hall. 'Oh crap.'

•••000•••

I'm on a roll today! I had so many ideas for this story I cant stop. I just kept writing. About half way through I also noticed that my stupid spell check kept changing camo to cameo. Stupid thing >_>

Haha. I had to laugh while writing this. I got the idea from an actual doctors appointment I had a while back. This is what happened:

Doctor: your getting Three shots Me: aww man (gets two shots) Doctor: ok now take off your pants Me: excuse me? Doctor: it has to go in your leg Me: …fine Doctor: (gives shot) Me: Ooow it burns! Doctor: oh yah it stings a little Me: (rubs butt.)

I couldn't sit down properly for two days without it feeling like a giant bruise on my ass.

Revised edition, if anyone finds any mistakes I missed please point them out.

Leave a review please. Thank you. ^_^ 


	5. PR5:

PR 5:

Disclaimer: I don't own PPG. Ok? Ok. Good now let's move on.

•••000•••

'Seriously? Somebody out there must reeeeeally hate me. Their just pushing to see how long it takes before I crack! It's HIM isn't it? It must be HIM, no one else enjoys others suffering so much.'

Crimson orbs bore holes into the back of the redhead seated at the computer. Hands twitching as red tendrils of energy crackled around clenched fists.

To say he was irritated and uncomfortable was putting it mildly. It took nearly every ounce of his will, not to simply attack. If it weren't for his brothers, if it weren't for that stupid promise he made, Brick would be trying to wring Blossom's scrawny little neck like he had earlier. Why in the seven Hells did he even make that stupid promise in the first place?

'Cause you didn't want your brothers to be stuck with HIM for the rest of eternity.'

Oh yah…that's why. That's also why he was now in this minuscule backwater town! In this stupid little 'Doctors office' with the one person that could send him over the edge of sanity just by existing!

One mistake, one wrong word, one little slip up and he'd let loose and crush that arrogant, stoic little bitch! How badly he wanted to hit her, especially after everything that had happened today, but unless she did something wrong he could do nothing about it. He may be a villain, but villain or not, promises were something Ruffs always keep.

So he waited. She had yet to even acknowledge his presence, just typing away at that computer. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time he had been this close to her without one of them trying to pound the others head in. The few hours previous didn't count seeing as he HAD pinned her to a wall. It was weird…

"Alright, just like your brothers you've already had your physical, so other than a few vaccinations, this'll just be a routine check up." Spinning the chair around, Blossom stood up and handed him a small basket. "Please empty your pockets and stand on the scale."

Snatching the basket from her hand, Brick grudgingly complied, glaring the whole time. A thought crossed his mind then. He wasn't supposed to fight, technically speaking, that meant just about anything short of actually hitting her was fair game. 'Hehe. This day may just be looking up a little.'

The Ruff then set about making things as difficult as he possibly could for the Puff. Sure it was childish, sure it was petty, but so what? He didn't like her and he sure couldn't get rid of her like he usually would so why not?

The only problem with this little plan was that he really couldn't tell if it was working or not. So far he had 'accidentally' knocked the scale off balance, kept slouching when she took his height, tensed his muscles when she tried to check his pulse and many other things just to affect the data. Unfortunately her face stayed blank no matter what he did. It wasn't exactly entertaining when you don't get a reaction.

"I'll be right back." turning away, she walked out of the room, closing the door a little harder than necessary.

Maybe he was getting a reaction. A subtle reaction, but it was a start. Smirking evilly, Brick waited impatiently for her to return. About a minute later he decided to snoop around some since he felt she was taking too long.

Giving the room a once over he decided the only interesting thing was the computer, and maybe those degrees. Which honestly seemed fake to him, after all how could she possibly have gotten them when she was still in high school?

After a moment or two Brick decided he had better not mess with the computer. There was a pass code on it and though he could crack it if he really tried, being that he was already frustrated he would probably end up breaking it first.

Settling on the counter, he grabbed one of the frames off the wall. Flipping it over he plucked the backing off and pulled the paper out.

Scanning over the sheet Brick's eyes widened. 'Holy crap, it's real.' But how could it be real? She was just in the high school so that made her a student… right? She couldn't possibly have gone to college if she was still in high school. And if the date on this thing was accurate she would have graduated a couple of years ago. 'It isn't possible.'

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't take those out."

Brick nearly threw the frame into the air, paper and all. He hadn't noticed her come back in.

'The fuck is with these people! This is what? The third time today?'

"I'm not a high school student." Walking over to the counter, Blossom placed a small tray down. Before he knew it, she was taking the frame from his hands and sliding the paper in place. "I only go to keep an eye on my sisters."

Shaking off the last of his surprise, Brick put a scowl back on. Which honestly wasn't all that hard seeing as he was simply itching to punch her. He must have still looked somewhat confused though because she continued.

"Thanks to the Professor I graduated before I even turned ten." Putting the frame back in place, Blossom picked the small tray up again. "The teachers at the school know me though, so they don't mind if I show up as long as I don't bother anyone."

Making her way back to the examination table, she waved slightly indicating he should follow. Plopping onto the table he scowled, irritated that he had to listen to her. He didn't ask for an explanation or some stupid history of what shes done since they last met. So what if he was actually listening, it wasn't because he was interested he just liked knowing things. That and she was the only thing in the room worth paying attention to since it was so freaking empty.

He must have been paying a little more attention than he thought though, because he nearly panicked when he noticed the needle in her hand.

"No way. You ain't putting that in my arm." he snarled, gripping her wrist roughly. This psycho chick was trying to poison him wasn't she?

"It's just a vaccine. It's not going to hurt you." Blossom drawled out as if she were explaining to a child. It ticked him off. "Your brothers already took it and they are perfectly fine."

He didn't trust her one bit. Sure Boomer had seemed ok after he came back but that didn't mean something couldn't happen later. There was no way he was about to let her stick him with some needle full of who knows what.

"I figured you'd be suspicious." sighing heavily she used her free hand to fish a neatly folded paper from somewhere in her coat. "Here's a breakdown of the vaccines."

Narrowing his eyes, Brick glared at Blossom a moment longer before snatching the paper away. Without releasing her wrist he hastily read over the contents of the three vaccinations she had on the tray.

Still a bit weary he grudgingly released her as he could find nothing out of the ordinary. Placing the needle back on the tray she rolled up his shirt sleeves for him. Cleaning the spots, she administered both shots. She paused then looking almost irritated as she eyed the last vaccine.

"Oh Hell no." Brick was no idiot. If she had to put the other two in different arms then he knew exactly where the last one was going. He grabbed both her wrist as she reached for the last needle, lifting them over her head away from the tray. "Not gonna happen Pink."

Magenta locked with crimson as they stared each other down. In a split second the emotionless look in her eyes vanished, replaced by a dark glare. The sudden mood swing nearly caused him to flinch but he held his ground, ignoring the urge to shudder.

It was somehow fascinating. He had been trying his best to ignore her existence for the better part of the day. The rest of the time, when he had no choice but to endure her presence, he spent silently goading her into a fight.

Much to his chagrin non of his attempts, ranging from simple glares to tripping her in the hallway, had worked. The glares did absolutely nothing and she seemed to have a better sense of awareness than he expected. Calmly side stepping him and once even springing over his outstretched foot as easily as if there were no obstruction.

All of this and still she wore that calm, collected air about her. Like he was no more than an insignificant fly, not even worth the time of day to swat. Now here they were, she had finally cracked.

"Look, neither of us are exactly thrilled to be here." Blossom hissed. "So why don't you do us both a favor and stop acting like a spoiled brat. The sooner you take the shot the sooner we can both go home."

"Watch it Puff!" Brick snarled, tightening his grip. "Just because I haven't hit you yet docent mean I wont."

If only that were true. But maybe he could get her to make the first move. There really must have been something else in those needles because at that moment Brick swore he saw her eyes change taking all previous thoughts with it. The almond shape melted into an almost snake like slant. The rounded pupils narrowing into diamond shaped slits giving her a animalistic look.

They seemed to draw him in. Urging him closer with that odd swirl of color. Pink… red… some off-orange… a slight neon tinge and… black. Her eyes were darkening, swirling like whirlpools of color around the pin prick that remained of her pupils.

It was like being swallowed whole. The longer he looked, the harder it was to turn away. Brick wasn't even sure if he was blinking anymore. His thought process became so sluggish that he didn't even register the feel of something brushing against his leg until it jabbed him sharply.

The cold feel of metal piercing through his flesh finally broke through the cloudy haze. Bricks eyes flew down, ending their glaring contest. Lying innocently beside his thigh was the third needle, completely empty.

"Now was that so difficult?" his gaze flicked back up to her eyes. All signs of hostility gone, back was the calm, impassive look.

It made his blood boil.

"How-"

"Now that were done, I'd very much appreciate it if you would let go." she cut him off. "Your free to leave."

She was seriously pushing her limits wasn't she. Brick felt the overpowering urge to strike. He so badly wanted to yell, to crush her wrists in his hands. Anything to wipe that look off her face. Just being next to her had him seeing red.

Knock knock

The door swung open slightly, snapping him from his angry rants. Releasing her wrists, Brick got up and grabbed the door, jerking it open. Outside stood a surprised Mojo, blinking owlishly at him. Growling in frustration, Brick stormed past Mojo back to the lobby.

"Well that turned out better than expected." Mojo stated, sounding pleased as Brick rounded the corner.

Just before he was out of hearing range Brick heard Blossom reply. "Well, being that were both still breathing I'd say its an accomplishment. Now about those physicals…"

He couldn't hear the rest of the conversation after that. Not that he cared anyway. Stalking back into the lobby, he dropped into the seat ignoring his brothers worried looks. They were probably thinking he had killed her, honestly he wouldn't have minded. Heck he would have enjoyed it if he could. Unfortunately that would mean breaking that stupid 'no fighting without a cause' promise. 'Ugh! Stupid people!'

The only reason he had agreed in the first place was so that they wouldn't be stuck with HIM as a father. An agreement he was sorely beginning to regret. Being stuck with that transvestite, psychotic, lobster wasn't sounding so bad anymore.

Then again that would make his life harder. HIM was never very nice to Boomer, always pestering the blond about how soft he was and targeting him on occasion. HIM was a really bad influence on Butch as well. The demon would always encourage the green Ruff to do stupid, dangerous things and praise him whenever he didn't get caught by the cops.

All in all, HIM acted more like a problematic teenager than a father. If the Ruffs stayed with HIM they probably would have been killed by now.

Mojo and Blossom walked into the lobby, interrupting his thought process. That seemed to be happening a lot today. Fuming silently, Brick glared at the two. How could Mojo be so calm standing next to HER of all people? He had even more of a reason to be mad than Brick, yet there he stood, completely at ease next to his arch nemesis of countless years.

"Alright boys, we've agreed to have your exams done on Wednesday." grabbing up the small pouch he had been carrying Mojo motioned them to follow. "I'll explain the rest on the way home. Good bye Powerpuff."

Mojo smiled kindly to Blossom before making his way to the door. The Ruffs followed him out, Boomer fidgeting nervously as he passed Blossom. Butch winked at her while Brick opted to ignore her completely.

It didn't even occur to him that he had forgotten to interrogate her about the fur or even that conversation with the principal.

•••***•••

"Dude… there's a cow outside my window…"

"Were next to a farm. What did you expect to find? A rhinoceros?"

"No, but that'd be so cool!"

Brick face palmed himself with a resounding smack. Dragging his hand down he peeked between his fingers at Butch who was opening the door.

"Butch. Get back in the car before Mojo comes." Boomer grumbled after his brother. "We won't hesitate to leave you here."

"Like I don't know where the house is!" Butch called over his shoulder. Placing a hand on the tall picket fence he hopped over, landing in the grass with a soft thump. "Besides, Mojo's been in there for years. Who knows when he'll get back."

They couldn't really blame their brother. After leaving the little 'doctors clinic' Mojo drove out to some house about a mile away from the town. The monkey told them to wait in the car and that he would be back in a few minutes.

Well a few minutes had long since become what felt like hours. For the most part Brick was content with wallowing in his anger. Boomer had a bunch of gadgets stashed into his bag and pockets to tinker with. Butch on the other hand was bored out of his mind.

Moooo!

"Butch!" Finally putting the device away, Boomer got out of the car. "I hope your not hurting that poor cow!"

"I didn't even touch it yet!" Butch snapped, walking closer to the large black and white bovine. Something moving around by it's legs caught his attention. "Hey, it's got a little one!"

Stopping a few feet away, Butch crouched down in the long grass. The cow didn't seem to care, just flicking it's ear and looking at him for a moment. Bowing her head she chomped down on some grass, yanking it out she chewed slowly, watching the raven haired boy with droopy eyes.

Butch just starred back. She blinked. He blinked. Pausing her slow chewing the cow mooed at him and Butch mooed right back. The cow seemed to consider him for a moment, munching her grass a few more times she swallowed before lumbering up to him.

Butch remained still, watching the way her head bobbed and body swayed. She stopped directly in front of him head tilting towards his face. It wasn't until her freakishly long tongue stretched past her lips that he freaked out.

"Aaaah!" Butch threw himself back, sprawling on the ground to avoid the slimy pink-purple appendage.

"Hahahaha! Dude! You should see your face right now!"

Boomer stood just behind and to the left of his brother crouched over laughing. Under his arm was a large bundle of bright green grass that the cow continued to reach for.

"I thought you liked girls that can work their tongues." Boomer grinned cheekily. Grabbing a handful of grass he offered it to the cow, not minding the sticky saliva her tongue left behind.

"Fuck you man!" Pushing himself back up Butch leaned against his knees. "I like my girls human! Besides, that things nasty!"

Boomer just laughed more. Petting the animals dark coat her peeked around her side at the tiny calf stumbling behind her.

"Aww." When the baby got close enough Boomer bent over, handing it some grass.

It stumbled to a stop starring up at him through its long lashes with wide brown eyes. It was mostly black with a bright splotch of white on it's head and nose. Too large ears bounced beside it's relatively small head.

Eventually it crept closer, sniffing at the green stuff. It made a loud snort and shook it's head in refusal.

"Don't think she likes ya Boom." Butch snickered as the little calf stepped past the blondes hand. "Guess it's just females in general that don't like- oof!" The little calf rammed it's head into Butch's face.

Boomer laughed even louder as the little creature knocked his brother over. It didn't stop there though, it kept running, trampling Butch with it's tiny hooves.

"I think you offended it bro." Boomer fed the mother the last of the grass. With that done he leaned against her side to watch what would happen next. "By the way, it's a boy not a girl."

"Damn little!" Butch didn't seem to be listening as he got up to chase the calf. "Run over me will ya." Snatching it up by it's midsection he carried it back over to Boomer and the cow.

"Careful." Boomer warned, watching the way the mother began bobbing and swaying her head.

"Relax would ya." Butch grumbled back. Placing the calf on it's feet he pushed it a little. "I'm not gonna hurt the stupid thing."

The little calf bucked, kicking at Butch as it ran away. Boomer could honestly say he didn't expect what happened next. The little bugger took off a short distance only to spin around and come charging back. When it did, like the brain dead idiot he was, Butch leaned over and let it head-butt him.

Needless to say the baby bull was the one to stumble this time. It's little legs continuing forward as the rest of him flopped back to sprawl on the ground. His head bounced like a bobble head while he stumbled to his little feet.

"Haha! Revenge." Butch grinned folding his arms across his chest. "That'll teach ya."

MOOOO!

A thousand plus pounds of angry momma went crashing into the green Ruffs side this time. Catching him off guard the cow hooked her horns into Butch's jeans and tossed him a good ten or fifteen feet off the ground.

"Gaah!" Landing with a solid thud, Butch lay on the ground. His muffled groaning barely audible.

"Hahahaha!"

Well there's a sound they didn't hear very often…

Spitting out grass and dirt, Butch hardly even remembered to be irritated when he picked himself up. Both blue and green Ruffs starred at the oldest male who perched himself on the fence unabashedly laughing.

"Watch it, she's comin' back!" Brick snorted, failing miserably at trying to stop his laughter.

"Aaahh!" Boomer yelped, jumping out of the way as the mad cow ran past trampling his brother.

"Dahsh ish!" Butch shouted, voice muffled by the ground. Springing to his feet he glared at the cow. "Wanna play hard ball do ya!"

Planting his feet firmly the toughest Ruff waited for the cow to charge again. Grabbing her by the horns he skidded back a inch or two before twisting her head to the side and knocking her over.

"Ha! Whose bad!" he crowed.

"Not you." Brick chuckled as the baby bull ran into the back of his brothers knees.

"He's not gonna give up is he?" Boomer questioned hoisting himself onto the fence beside Brick.

"Nope."

The two watched as their brother picked himself back up. It was quite entertaining to see him getting outsmarted by a couple of bovines. If it wasn't the mom knocking him over it was the calf trampling him.

"It's so sad." Brick stated.

"You gotta admit it's funny though."

"Yep."

"How long ya think their gonna keep running him over?"

"Until one of em gets tired." Brick shrugged uncaring. "Or till Mojo finally comes out."

"Were gonna be here for a while aren't we?"

"Yep."

•••***•••

"Damn stupid cows!" Butch muttered under his breath for the umpteenth time since they had left the farm.

He was now sporting a slightly purpling eye and torn clothes.

"Technically only the mother was a cow." Boomer interjected. "The calf was a bull."

"I don't care if it was fucking Queen Latifah!" Butch shoved the car door open before they even stopped. Stomping up to the house he slammed the door behind him muttering about killing cows and eating extra beef and veal the next time he went out.

Boomer watched as the house door slammed shut. A moment later, just as Mojo parked the car, it flew back open. Butch came stomping back out onto the porch.

"There's some freaky blue bird in the house." Stoping at the top step he pointed back through the door.

"I see you have met Einstein." Mojo grinned, jumping out of the car. A bright blue peacock strut regally through the doorway. "No matter how many times I put him outside he always seems to find a way back into the house."

Stopping in the middle of the porch Einstein jerked his head into the air and let out a caw. Mojo made a clicking sound and the large fowl ran over. It was a little funny seeing as the bird was half the monkeys size.

"He has a surprisingly vast intellect for an avian with a brain the size of a pin head." Mojo held his car keys out to Einstein jingling them a bit. Plucking them from his fingers the bird ran back into the house. "He makes for a very good alarm clock and sometimes even a guard bird."

"Guard BIRD?" Brick gave Mojo a questioning look.

"See for yourself." Mojo ushered the boys into the house.

Both Brick and Butch took the invitation waltzing into the house. It was for this reason that Boomer was the only one to notice the way Mojo paused just outside the door. Glancing up at his son Mojo lifted a furry finger to his lips shushing Boomer as he closed the door.

'What is he doing?'

"What the-!"

"AAAHHH! PSYCO BIRD!"

The boys shouts could easily be heard through the walls along with some crashes and screeching. Boomer's eyes widened as the scuffling sounds became more intense.

"MOVE IT!" The door crashed open Brick's large frame flying out before slamming shut again. "THAT AIN'T NO FUCKING NORMAL BIRD MAN!"

The redhead flattened himself against the door holding it closed. His clothes were disheveled, hair tangled, hat missing, there were even a few scratches across his cheek.

"LET ME OUT!" Butch screeched, pounding on the door until the frame rattled. The door thumped popping open an inch before Brick's weight smashed it back shut. "OPEN THE DOOR BRO!"

"HELL NAW, PSYCHO BIRDS STAYING WITH YOU!"

"BASTARD! YOU CALL YOURSELF MY BROTHER!" Butch shouted, the door continued to rattle causing Brick to stumble forward a couple of times. Einstein crowed in the background. "FEARLESS LEADER MY ASS!"

"You know I don't like animals." Brick called back.

"CHICKEN!"

"It's called being cautious." Brick stated, he began straightening his shirt before running his hand through his hair.

Boomer and Mojo could see the gears in his head turning as he processed the way no fabric presented itself. A second later Brick's eyes doubled in size as he spun around to face the door.

"MY HAT!" Wrenching the door open he charged back into the house just as Butch's green and black form dove out.

Landing on his belly Butch rolled over and kicked the door shut shuffling back. His eyes were dilated as he starred at the closed door panting. The door popped back open, Brick zipping out, prized cap held high above his head.

"You've-you've been experimenting on that thing ha-haven't you!" Butch pointed an accusing finger at the chuckling Mojo.

"Whatever has given you that impression?" Mojo blinked innocently.

Butch began twitching.

"I have done nothing of the sort that you are implying." Mojo ran through the still open door. "I have been feeding him bananas and nothing more."

"I don't think that's healthy." Boomer glanced worriedly through the open door seeing all the feathers, hair, and scraps of clothes littering the carpet.

"That is not all he eats." Mojo replied, calmly petting Einstein along his green-blue back, the picture of innocence. "I just meant that I feed him bananas. He enjoys them almost as much as I do."

"Is it safe to come in now?" Boomer asked as his brothers glared viciously at the innocent looking peacock. "He's not gonna attack is he?"

"Of course." Mojo waved nonchalant, walking deeper into the house. "He simply did recognize you seeing as none of you have been here previously."

Shrugging the blue Ruff walked into the house petting Einstein as he walked by. Brick grudgingly followed a moment later, suspiciously eyeing the bird. Einstein blinked tilting his head to the side and pecked at his shoe. Butch cautiously got off the floor, creeping past. Einstein crowed, Butch yelped and dashed past.

"Animals really don't like you guys huh?" Boomer grinned smugly earning himself a punch on the shoulder courtesy of Butch.

"I call this room!" Brick's voice echoed from somewhere upstairs.

"Hey! No fair!"

"You got a head start! I call redoes!"

The rest of the night went by more or less uneventful, just the way Brick liked it. Unless you count Mojo's banana themed cooking or Butch picking a fight with Einstein as eventful.

•••000•••

What can I say? I like animals, besides I got inspired. Haha, I was digging through some old photo albums and I found this picture of an old pet of mine.

He, at least I think it was a he, was one of those blue Easter dyed chickens. I got him when I was nine an it was one of my favorite pets. I named him 'Cheep cheep' (lame name I know >_>). He did some off the wall shit sometimes. It was so cute, when I first got him he would follow me around every where and always made this little "peepeepeepeep" sound when he slept.

What was really funny was that he just didn't like guys one bit. Every time my dad walked by Cheep cheep would run over and peck at his toes, he even stole a cigarette right out of my dads friends mouth once.

I miss that little guy… he got eaten my dads dog…

Well, enough of my sob story. I hope you all liked this chapter. I'll be adding a few more here or there and then get back to writing new chapters. Hope you guys like a wide range of characters cause I'm gonna have quite a few showing up in the future. So all you Gangreen fans can celebrate, or nit pick, cause their the next new additions.

Thanks for reading, please leave a review. ^_^ 


	6. PR6:

PR 6:

Disclaimer: I don't own Powerpuff Girls.

•••000•••

Even after everything that happened on Monday Brick was surprised to find himself in a semi-decent mood. Though that may have been attributed to the fact that Blossom didn't show for school for his entire Tuesday.

Or maybe it was just the after affects of waking up to Butch falling down the stairs in an attempt to get away from Mojo's psycho pet.

Whatever it was he was going to soak up as much Puff free time as he possibly could. Sure Buttercup and Bubbles were around but he didn't mind. For all he cared they could run streaking thought the school whistling Dixie and he wouldn't give a rip.

As long as they stayed away from him that is. It was just their redheaded sister that got on his nerves.

Tuesday night on the other hand… now that was a different story entirely. Mojo had arranged for their exam things to be done the next day. Which meant he'd be forced into contact with a certain pink aggravation.

It didn't help that Boomer, in the room next to his and directly beside the current placement of his bed, was making enough noise to rival a category five hurricane.

It had been going on for nearly an hour now. Brick was able to ignore it for the most part by plugging in his headphones and blaring the music at full blast. But even that couldn't help him forever and soon enough the crashes and banging became too much for the Ruff to bare. Muttering a few very colorful choice curses, Brick smashed his fist against the wall.

"Boomer! Shut the fuck up in there!" he growled, frustrated when, if anything, the racket only intensified.

Kicking at his blanket, Brick leapt off the bed, landing in the doorway. Wrenching it open he stomped down the hall, stopping only to pound on Boomers blue door.

"Shut up in there damn it!"

"Lotta good that'll do ya." Butch grumbled leaning against the upstairs bathroom doorway. He had obviously just gotten out of the shower, not even bothering to put on more than his boxers. Shoulder length hair damp and lifeless a towel hanging from one hand. "I tried that already."

"Well you got a better idea? Mojo'll have a cow if I bust the door plus it's locked." Brick jiggled the knob for emphasis.

Butch rolled his eyes. Slinking over he dropped his towel. Glancing his brother up and down once he grinned before lifting his hands in a 'shooing' motion. Kneeling down in front of the door he giggled the knob a few times and pressed something into the lock. A nearly soundless click and the door swung open upon the chaos.

It looked like a tornado really had passed through the room. Empty and half filled boxes cluttered the walls, Boomers gadgets and half finished projects scattered across every inch of the floors. Clothing lay in folded and messy piles. Pillows hung from the window, blanket draped across a rolling chair and tucked under the bed making a tent like area. And in the middle of it all was the blonde himself.

"I can't find it, I can't find it, I can't find it!" Boomer whispered, distraught as he dug through boxes of things he had or hadn't finished unpacking yet. "Where is it? I have to find it, I have to find it, I have to find it!"

Butch raised an eyebrow, grabbing his towel off the floor he stood back up. He tossed Brick a worried glance. Brick eyed the mess wearily, slowly pushing the door open, mindful of all the items in the way. He didn't want to upset the blue any more than he already was. And Boomer was clearly very upset, frenziedly tossing things around.

"Boomer?" Brick called gently as if talking to a frightened animal. "What you lookin' for bud?"

"I can't find it, I can't find it anywhere, it's not in my room!" Throwing aside the now empty box in his hands, Boomer began sifting through the things on his floor, randomly tossing them around. "I NEED it! Can't get anything done without it! How could I loose something so important!"

"If it's important, you'll find it." Butch added, pushing a few half built robots around on the floor with his toe.

"What's it look like?" Brick questioned, floating over to what was supposed to be Boomer's book shelf and looking around. "Maybe we've seen it someplace."

"S'not hard to notice! Only freaking green an red thing in my whole room!" Boomer shouted, flying a shirt at the wall and kicking random empty cardboard boxes.

Butch blinked, "Dude! Tell me you ain't been doing all this crap over a freaking screwdriver!" not caring what he stepped on, Butch stomped over, grabbing the blonde by his shirt collar and pulling him so close their noses almost touched.

"I can't find it." Boomer pouted, glasses drooping back into his hair. His cheeks flushed red suddenly, eyes clouded. "I lost it…" he whispered as if he had just been given a death sentence.

Butch jumped back, startled. "Come on bro! Not the water works!"

"I ain't crying, damn it!" Boomer shouted, glaring at his brother.

"Then stop acting like a sissy!"

"I ain't acting like a sissy!"

"Well ya sure cryin' like a baby then!" Butch crossed his arms over his chest.

"Am not!" Boomer shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

At some point the two had begun inching closer and now stood with less than an inch between them. It was mildly amusing for they now had their foreheads pressed together as they glared angrily. But the fact still stands that Butch is a good half foot or so taller than Boomer. The blonde was not deterred though, somehow still managing to look intimidating despite the fact that he had to glare up at his brother who more or less towered over him.

"ARE TOO!" Butch shouted into Boomer's face.

"AM NOT!" Boomer yelled, tackling Butch through the doorway and over the railing.

They landed in the hallway with a solid thump, rolling around along the carpet. Brick immediately flew after them landing just behind the scuffling pair. It didn't help much that they had conveniently ended up on Einsteins tail, the retarded fowl now screeching wildly as he dashed around them.

Brick felt a migraine coming on. His day was going great and now he had to deal with this? Pressing his fingers against his temples he began rubbing circles to alleviate the pain.

Einstein began flapping around, scratching at the boys as Boomer got shoved against a wall. Butch in turn got a foot to the gut, crashing against a lamp.

"Sissy!"

"Jerk!"

"Pansie!"

"Ignoramus!"

"Cry baby!"

"Twit!"

"SHUT UP!" Brick bellowed. Grabbing Boomer by his shirt collar and Butch by the back of his neck, Brick forcefully pried the two apart only the smash their heads together before dropping them back to the ground. "Now…, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"

"Why don't you ask the dumb blonde here." Butch sat up tenderly rubbing his abused face.

Crimson orbs settled on Boomer, the blonde lying motionless on the floor. Normally people would have been worried but Brick knew better, Boomer wasn't actually hurt. Even so, Boomer lay there motionless, sprawled across the hallway starring up at the roof as if the world were crashing down around him.

"Boom, wha'did ya loose?" Brick asked, nudging his foot against Boomer's side.

"My screwdriver's gone…" Boomers voice was barely a whisper, so quiet his brothers almost didn't hear him.

"See! Told ya, the idiot was makin' all that noise for nothin'!" Butch grumbled, pushing himself off the carpet. He paused, gingerly tracing a series of scratches along his chest before stomping up the stairs. Glaring at both Boomer and Einstein the whole way. "Damn bird."

"Stop whining." Brick folded his arms over his chest. "If your that worried about it we'll get you a new one later." murmuring awkwardly, he turned away heading up the stairs.

Stopping in front of his bedroom he glanced over the railing. He could still see his brothers supine form exactly where he left him.

"Your still cleaning that mess though." Brick stated, closing the door behind him.

•••***•••

"But I don't want a new one…" Boomer muttered.

He felt utterly depressed, not wanting to move from the floor even after Einstein seemingly decided that his shirt would make a very fine nest.

"What are you doing?" Mojo appeared, hovering over Boomer as he stood just behind his shoulders, peering into the teens face. "That is to say, what is your reasoning for lying in the middle of the hallway and allowing Einstein to create a nest out of your clothing?"

Boomer merely grunted in reply.

Mojo sighed, "I am to assume that you are still unable to detect the location of your pocket screwdriver and all of it's many different axel shafts?"

Boomer gave another grunt as affirmation.

"If it is of that much importance to you then I will buy you a new one the next time I go to the hardware store." Mojo bent down and patted the blonde on the head.

"Don't want a new one…" Boomer grumbled quietly.

"And why is that?"

"Cause that one was special…"

"And to what may I inquire was so 'special' about this particular item?"

Sighing breathily, Boomer pushed himself up onto one hand, Einstein falling into his lap. Patting the bird a few times he got up, mumbling "Don't worry about it. Thanks for asking though." casting the chimp a half hearted grin he trudged up the stairs.

Closing his room door he sighed again at the mess that now lay before him.

'Pull yourself together!' Boomer mentally shouted at himself. 'Its just some lousy screwdriver, you can always get a new one!'

Slapping his cheeks, Boomer began to clean up the mess that remained of his room.

'But you got it for your first birthday…' a traitorous thought invaded his mind, causing the teen to slow his pace. 'It was the first gift you ever got… and from your brothers no less…'

"Oh great… now I'm depressed again…" Boomer mumbled.

He stood up, looking at the extremity of the mess around him. With a pout he sprang off the ground, floated over to his bed, and pushed everything off. Plopping down onto the mattress he rolled over to face the wall.

'I'll clean it later…'

•••***•••

None of the boys felt like getting up the next day. Boomer remained depressed, perhaps more so than previously, dragging his way along. Butch just didn't want to get up, not that he was able to stay asleep with Einstein crowing right outside his window. And Brick… well, he wasn't looking forward to having to see the Puffs seeing as Mojo had scheduled that, whatever it was, today.

Being at school didn't improve the blondes mood. Not even Buttercup's occasional glares were able to get him to move from his draped over the desk position. Not that she really had any time to pay attention to him anyway. Butch, whom Mitch had welcomed with open arms into their group, just wouldn't take a hint and leave her alone for more than a few minutes at a time.

This improved Brick's mood exponentially, not only was Blossom and the blue sister, Bubbly or whatever her name was, no where to be seen, their green sister was becoming angrier than the frothing mutt he came to acquaint her with.

All in all, his day was going mildly well. Although it was going a bit fast for his liking. Before he knew it the first half of the day had already flown by, marked by all three Ruff's being called to the principals office. Already knowing what would happen Brick dragged his way over, making sure he was the last one there.

When he finally got there he found a very bored Butch leaning against the wall next to a depressed Boomer. Seriously the blue Ruff looked pitiful sitting dejectedly on the ground as if a permanent storm cloud had taken up residence over him.

'Note to self, get Boomer another screwdriver soon so he quits whining.' it made Brick uncomfortable when his brother was so down. He'd never admit it aloud but he liked it when the two were happy.

"Finally! It took ya long enough." Butch grumbled, standing straight when finally he noticed the redhead. "Mojo already signed us out. Him and Pinky already headed to the parking lot too."

Boomer got up then, dragging his feet as he headed to the door.

"Damn that boys depressing." Brick shot Butch a stern look which quickly shut the green up…for a while.

The second they reached the back campus leading to the parking lot Butch began fidgeting, his old twitch acting up again. The boy was worse than a sugar hyped four year old that had just been told he was being taken to Disneyland for his birthday.

His mild twitch had become spasms by the time they left the courtyard. Eyeing the boy warily Brick opened his mouth to question his behavior.

"Butch- where'd he go?" Brick spun around looking in every direction when the green disappeared in an instant. "Boomer, you seen where he went?"

Boomer's reply was a simple huff of air as he stuffed his hands deeper into his pockets. Finally looking up off the ground he turned the corner and stopped for a moment. Blinking once he shrugged and kept walking.

It didn't take Brick long to find out why, a flash of green and red catching his eye where he found his idiot brother who was practically glued to the hood of a deep red car making an utter fool of himself. Butch got way too excited over cars. He took it to an almost creepy level.

Seriously, give him a few more minutes and Brick wouldn't put it past his brother to start making out with the hood or something. Definitely looked like he wanted to.

"Butch, stop acting like a retard."

Butch didn't listen in the least. He continued to roll around on the hood until he noticed Blossom next to him, tapping her foot in the universal sign of an irritated woman. Brick twitched, he had been so preoccupied with his brother that he hadn't noticed the girl at first.

"Can I drive?" Jumping up, Butch practically threw himself at the girl, hugging her tightly he lifted her off her feet. "Please, please, please, please, let me drive. Please."

"Put. Me. Down." Blossom stated.

"Can I at least ride in the car? Please, PLEASE!" Butch placed Blossom back on the ground only to wrap himself around her legs. "Please don't make me ride in that awful jalopy again!" half shouting he pointed an accusing finger at Mojo's beat up car.

"Ugh. Fine, get in the car." Blossom sighed in exasperation as Butch promptly let go and zipped around to the passenger door leaving a dark green trail behind him.

Eyeing his brother with disgust, Brick made his way over to Mojo. He briefly took note of Boomer lying across the back seat as he got in.

'Traitor.' Butch was obviously ecstatic. The second Blossom unlocked the door, the green Ruff was bouncing around on the passenger seat. It pissed him off to see his brother jump ship so quickly.

Unfortunately he couldn't exactly blame him… while Mojo's beat up old car took forever and a day to start, Blossom's car roared to life in a matter of seconds.

Growling it's way out of the parking lot, the red vehicle zoomed down the street leaving Mojo to putt his way along. By the time they reached the actual road, Blossom and Butch were nothing more than a speck of red in the distance.

His day just kept getting better didn't it? What could possibly go wrong… 'Don't even attempt to finish that!' he mentally reprimanded.

•••***•••

The forest seemed to stretch endlessly as they twist and turned down the winding road. Emerald leaves danced against the blue sky, thick branches creaking loudly above.

Brick could have sworn he even saw a deer at one point. 'We really are in the middle of nowhere.'

Taking another turn, Mojo pulled into an admittedly nice place. He wouldn't call it a drive way, it was way too big for that.

Nearly two acres of green lawn stretched out along a mountainside. An oak tree stood proudly in the center, a long paved road winding around it. At the far end was an average looking house nestled between the relatively short mountain ridges.

Seemingly built into the rock was a large garage door, through which Mojo drove. Brick took note of Butch darting around inside the garage as Mojo parked the car. He was about to get out and yell at his brother to stop acting like a fool when Blossom called him over.

In a flash Butch was standing next to her like the obedient bastard ass traitor he was.

The garage doors closed, gears grinding loud. Brick tensed up when the floor began to shake, loud rumbling sounds echoed around him.

"Calm yourself. It is not an earthquake." Mojo said calmly. He didn't seem the least bit worried.

"Why are we sinking?" Boomer questioned dumbly as he stared out the window.

He was right! The floor was dropping beneath them. Like a giant elevator. After a while all Brick could see was steal walls as the garage disappeared above them. A sliver of light shot through when they descended into a large room.

'Oh greeeat! I've died an gone to Butch's twisted version of heaven.'

They were now in an even bigger garage, except this one looked high tech. Tool boxes of various shapes and sizes lined the walls. Three different types of cars were parked to the left, two of them looked like they were still being worked on while the last was obviously being scrapped. Brick even saw several motorcycles to the right. The rest of the floor was littered with parts or tools though not bad enough that one wouldn't be able to walk.

"I love you!" Butch squealed like a little girl. Looking over at his brother, Brick was revolted to see Butch squeezing Blossom against his chest as he stared out at the room looking like he was hearing the hallelujah chorus. It sort of ticked him off.

"Go ahead." Blossom sighed. Before she could even finish her sentence Butch was dancing around the garage like a fairy on crack. He pried open every drawer, looked under every hood and picked at every piece of equipment in the room.

"We have lost him." Mojo stated, getting out of the car. He starred after Butch as the Ruff flitted about the room never stopping for more than a few seconds. "It will be nearly impossible to get him out of this room."

Brick had to agree with Mojo this time. Not even he could control Butch when he got like this.

"Don't worry Mojo, he'll listen." Blossom said in a teasing voice.

"Really now?" Boomer asked, getting out. "He docent even listen to Brick when he gets like this. I doubt he'd listen to you."

Smirking at them, Blossom tossed a pair of keys into the air, letting them jingle loudly. A flash of green and Butch was instantly beside her grinning psychotically. His fingers twitched spasmatically as he stared, eyes transfixed on the metal in her palm.

Oh now he was really irked. Butch never listened to him once he got into those crazy moods of his and yet Blossom had him doing flips like a trained dog.

"It's amazing what a person can accomplish with the right motivation."

Boomer gaped openly until Mojo reached over and closed the blondes mouth. "You are going to catch flies like that."

"Ok let's get going." Blossom walked off to the back of the room. The others trailing behind her, well everyone except Butch who was literally hovering over her shoulder pathetically grabbing at the keys.

Quite frankly, Brick was disgusted. Though he had to admit it was rather amusing to see the look of utter shock cross his brothers face when Blossom dropped the keys down the front of her shirt.

•••***•••

'I take it back. Boomer is worse.' The door Blossom had gone through just had to lead to a robotics room didn't it?

Now it was Boomers turn. The blond was dashing about the room, nothing but a blue blur. It was like standing in a whirlwind as the air smashed into Brick. The wind was so strong it even would have blown Mojo away if he hadn't grabbed the monkey. And to think that Boomer was so depressed he would hardly even talk just a few minutes ago.

"Hey Blue!" Blossom shouted, holding something above her head. She had somehow gotten to the far corner of the room and was standing next to another door.

Brick wasn't sure what she was holding but whatever it was got Boomers attention. Even faster then Butch, the blond was next to Blossom, starring at her like a dog anticipating a treat. Brick knew that look, Boomer always got it just before he got his mitts on some type of new tech.

Depression seemingly forgotten, Boomer pranced after her as she stepped through the door. They traveled down a long steel hallway before finally stopping at a pair of large metal doors.

The place had a sort of futuristic feel to it. Long corridors, steel or possibly titanium walls, sliding doors, the whole nine yards. It didn't help that a hand scanner just appeared out of freaking nowhere on the wall.

They stepped into some sort of computer room then. At least he thought it was a computer room. Lining the walls were monitors and TVs in perfect rows and columns. The only problem was he couldn't seem to find a keyboard anywhere.

Strike that, there were keyboards. Even Brick had to admit that was cool. Stepping into the middle of the room, Blossom waved her hand horizontally bringing forth a holographic keyboard. She quickly began typing at it.

"Alright. Were all set." Blossom clicked a few more keys before standing up and turned around. "Mojo?"

"Yes, I know Powerpuff." Mojo walked over to Blossom's side pulling along a small office chair from the corner of the room. "I can handle things here. Boys go with her."

Nodding once, Blossom turned around to leave the room, the three Ruffs following a little behind. They walked further down the hall and around a corner before stepping into a large white room.

The doors closed automatically behind them the moment the four were inside. It made Brick mildly nervous, then again it was three of them and one of her, why should he feel anxious?

The room was completely empty. What was the purpose? There was absolutely nothing in here. It looked to be a forty by forty foot, white room.

Making her way to one of the walls, Blossom pushed lightly against it. A small panel popped open, inside was a bunch of long narrow items. They looked sort of like large headphones with long wing like projections. Over the headband was strips of colored glass or plastic between the black metal.

Grabbing one out, Blossom slipped it over Boomers head, much to the blondes surprise. Brick realized they were actually glasses when she pulled the headband over Boomer's eyes. The wings flowing along the side of his head like a pair of horns.

"Oooh these are cool!" Boomer whispered feeling the glasses. "Hey, is this one of those virtual reality head sets?"

"Precisely." Grabbing three more, Blossom handed them to Brick and Butch before putting the last one on herself. "Can you hear us?"

"No need to yell!" Mojo's voice suddenly echoed around the room. "I may be old but I am not hard of hearing!"

"Did you turn the volume down?"

"…Ugh, no." Soft shuffling sounds were heard before Mojo returned. "I'm turning it on now. Brick put your glasses on."

'Stupid monkey.'

"WOAH!"

"AWESOME!"

"…"

The entire room seemed to disappear. The walls rippled like water casting various colors in every direction. The empty white room melting away into what looked like a large gym.

Now Brick wasn't too familiar with exercise equipment but he knew enough to know that there was enough here to stretch just about every muscle he could think of.

Walking around a little he paused at the closest bench and scoffed. "You call these weights?"

"No kidding." Butch prodded at a couple of dumbbells across the room. "You call fifty pounds a weight? That's not even a challenge. That's like… I might as well be lifting a feather…"

"Really now?" Picking up a random dumbbell, Blossom tossed it into the air a few times. "I suppose your right."

"Yah, come on babe, where's the challenge?" Butch took this moment to drape his arm over the females shoulder.

Blossom scowled and shoved the weight against his chest earning a soft 'oof' as she knocked the wind out of him.

Butch wrapped his arms around the weight grinning like a lech when he accidentally grabbed her wrist. Blossom just tugged her hand away.

"Wait a minute…" Butch blinked, a look of perplexity over took him as he hefted the weight a few times. "This docent feel like fifty…"

"It's not supposed to." Blossom gave him a sly smirk and Brick couldn't help but wonder when the Hell she started smirking. "We'll start the exams now."

•••000•••

Aaahhh! I feel like I'm going crazy! My mom decided to bring home a little chihuahua puppy the other day. Now I'm the one that's stuck watching it! I love animals but this one I'd make an exception for. It's driving me insane! I cant even look at my phone without it whining or barking at me.

Meh. I've got to get back to writing my other story now. I keep telling myself that I should write that one first but I keep getting new ideas to try out for this one instead. And I end up having to write them down before I forget them completely. I have to work on my focus... I've got a really short attention span...

Please leave a review. Thanks! ^_^ 


	7. PR7:

PR: 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Powerpuff Girls or any characters associated with them.

•••000•••

"What to do first…" Blossom mumbled, walking around the room. Snapping her fingers she strode over to a large square of carpeting at one corner of the room. "Few stretches sounds simple enough. Alright boys, over here."

"Really… what are we doing? Touching our toes?" Brick sneered.

"Exactly." Blossom blinked, face as blank and bored as ever. "We can start from there."

"Oookaaay." Boomer walked over, standing in front of her.

"You do know that we don't need to stretch right?" Butch placed the weight back on the rack, folding his arms when he stepped onto the square of carpet. "Were superhuman, it's not like were gonna pull a muscle."

Brick kept quiet, reluctantly standing off to the left, his posture screaming rebellion.

"We'll just do single sets to save time." Blossom stated, ignoring the ravens comment. Shifting her legs apart she stretched one arm over her head leaning into it. "Well? I'm not doing this for my health." she stated expectantly when the boys made no moves to follow.

Two pairs of eyes rolled, all three boys sighing in exasperation before following. Straightening up Blossom stretched the other arm, then swung both around a few times twisting at the hip. Swinging around a bit faster than necessary, Boomer grinned sheepishly when his back popped with a loud 'crack'.

"You know. That sounds pretty good right about now." With that said Butch placed both hands against his sides, leaning back to crack the lower section of his spine. "Oh, that felt good."

With an apathetic shrug, Brick followed suit, cracking both his back and neck.

"Alright. Now a few push ups." Blossom wasn't the least bit fazed.

"Do I have to?" Boomer grumbled.

"Think about it this way Boom," Brick scowled, dropping to the ground. "the faster you get it over with, the faster we can go home."

"When is this gonna get challenging?" Butch hurriedly finished his ten before getting back up.

For the most part Blossom ignored them, going about the stretches and workout with ease. Shifting her weight to one hand she tucked the other behind her back and continued. Finishing that set she switched arms and repeated the process before kicking up into a hand stand.

Butch stared for a moment, mildly dazed as he watched the fabric of her shirt drop, or rise, or whatever it was doing! Either way he looked at it, her stomach was still showing, and my oh my was that a nice curvy waist.

Brick swore a few profanitys when his baggy shirt tangled around his arms. This was getting ridiculous in his opinion. Not to mention his stupid brother was beginning to piss him off with the constant ogling. Brick decided to fix that, shifting his weight onto one hand before kicking Butch.

"Huh?" Butch swatting his foot as if shooing a fly.

"Your supposed to do it too." Boomer said.

"Oh, right."

"Moving on." Blossom didn't bother to wait, expertly flexing her legs over her back and standing back up. "Oh, and before I forget again." striding over to the wall, she opened a small drawer and retrieved several odd looking bands. "Put those on. They'll help record your status."

She tossed a bunch of the bands to each male before putting some on herself. One on each wrist, over the biceps, around the thighs, and both ankles.

"What's this one for?" Boomer asked, holding up an x shaped band that had a few more straps than the rest.

Blossom sighed, she was truly getting tired of explaining everything to them. Debating her next course of action, the pink Puff decided to save her breath and simply show them how to put it on.

Now Boomer was the furthest away at the moment, and Butch would probably come up with some stupid innuendo. Then again, Brick wasn't exactly touchy.

'Ah, what the heck.' Throwing what little caution and patience she had left to the wind, Blossom scooped up one of the bands and stepped directly in front of her counterpart.

"Hey! What are you- STOP TOUCHING ME!" Brick snarled as Blossom threw half of the straps over his shoulders, carelessly pushing him this way and that, tightening the bands all the while. Grabbing the straps over his chest she tugged them making sure it would stay in place. "There."

Just as she suspected Boomer picked up the details quickly, putting the band on with only minor mishaps. Butch on the other hand either hadn't been paying attention or was purposely putting it on wrong. Huffing lightly in irritation, Blossom stepped over to the raven boy leaving her seething counterpart behind.

Slapping Butch's hands out of the way she grasped the bands and pulled them over his head, mildly peeved that she was forced to tip toe to do so. Straightening it out she put it back on the right way, cuffing him lightly when he attempted to inch closer.

"Hey, how come you aren't wearing one?" Boomer asked, observing her strap bare shoulders and back.

Blossom gave him a look, not that he could see her eyes to know that, before pointedly glancing down at her chest. Butch, noticing the slight tilt of her head, caught on fast and began chuckling like a dirty old man.

"Idiot." Brick muttered darkly, embarrassed by his brothers stupidity.

He knew that Boomer was bright and sharp as a tack. But when it came to just about anything dealing with the opposite sex the blonde was just so…blonde. It would take a blind person, or at least someone as clueless as Boomer, to not notice the way the straps were made were intended for guys. The thick, tight straps would wrap around ones chest and be far too uncomfortable for girls to use.

"She can't wear it cause it would squash these." Butch laughed lecherously, wrapping his arms around Blossom in a wide circle and pointing at her breasts.

"I'd appreciate if you would stop that." Blossom stated, swatting his hands away once more.

"Aww, but I'm just showing affection." Butch whined, tightening his arms around her, one arm against her collar bone, the other just below the curve of her chest. "I thought girls liked when guys show how much they care."

"Not from stalkers."

"But I'm not a stalker."

"You posses stalkerish tendencies."

"That just means I love ya sexy."

"Ok, I've tried being nice."

Grabbing Butch's upper forearm, Blossom pinched the skin and twisted, drawing a sharp yelp from the teen. Stepping out of his grasp she pushed him off the square of carpet.

"Next up, let's check agility and dexterity."

Boomer moved back off of the carpet, eyes widening as the redheaded female shifted into a defensive stance. Involuntarily his cobalt orbs darted to Brick noting the way he began fidgeting, not unlike Butch would right before a fight.

"Who's first?" Blossom asked, raising a delicate eyebrow.

'Don't do it! It's a trap!' Brick mentally shouted. His body disagreed though, years of fighting conditioning his reflexes, and swung at her.

Blossom tilted her head to the side narrowly avoiding his fist. One arm came up and smacked the underside of his elbow, the other palm planting firmly in the center of his chest. She pushed, not hard enough to knock him off balance but just enough to show that she could have hit him.

"Impulsive." Blossom commented, avoiding a swift kick to the gut.

Brick growled again, fist swinging up under her chin for an uppercut. Blossom threw herself back into a bridge, foot grazing against his side as she flipped backwards and away.

Brick paused for a moment, examining her body movements, bouncing on the ball of his feet. Dashing forward he dropped back, sliding on his knees beneath her raised leg to avoid a kick, head and upper body parallel with the floor. Snatching the ankle still planted on the carpet he jerked her leg out from under her.

Catching him by surprise, Blossom used his grip on her leg to send the rest of her body into a corkscrew, spinning around and flattening the dorsum of her foot against his cheek. She didn't apply any pressure against his face though. Smashing her forearm into the carpet she whipped her leg around, tossing him head first behind her. A quick summersault and Brick landed on his feet.

"Analytical, much better." Blossom almost praised, standing perfectly still as he moved forward slowly circling, trying to find a weak spot. "Anyone can be a brawler, but it takes more to step back and think."

"Shut up." Brick snapped, charging her from behind he jabbed at her right shoulder. Just as he expected she dodged to the left right into his knee, what he didn't expect was for her to spin, sidestepping out of the way.

Moving less than a foot from him she dropped forward, arms tucked close, and swung her leg back in a perfect split catching the side of his chin. Grabbing her by the leg once more he lifted her into the air and tossed her aside before she could kick at him.

Brick could feel himself becoming more and more frustrated the longer the fight progressed. He found that no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't seem to hit her. He had managed to catch her several times by either the wrists or ankles and once by locking her in a bear hug but he just couldn't hold on. She always seemed to find a way out of his grip or even to use it against him. He sure as Hell didn't like her but he had to admit, though he'd cut his own heart out before saying it aloud, that she was a skilled fighter.

"Alright, I think that's enough." Blossom did a little backflip over Brick, using his shoulder as a launch pad, and landed directly in front of the gaping Butch. "Hope your ready."

"Hey! I'm not done yet!" Brick snapped, stalking over and grabbing her roughly by the shoulder. He spun her around and dragged her towards him to glare down at her, their foreheads butting together. "I'm still ready to fight so don't you DARE ignore me!"

"It's for the exams Brick." Blossom sighed, prying her tank top strap from his grip. "We've already collected more than enough data from you. I still need to evaluate your brothers and you don't want to end up tired out before you take the other tests do you?"

"Come on bro, stop hogging the hot chick." Butch grumbled, wrapping his arms around Blossom's waist and pulling her against his chest. "You've had enough time watching her flex her sexy self, very hot by the way," he breathed against her ear. "it's time to let your bros have some fun too."

Tearing his eyes from the smaller redhead in his grip, Brick glared at his brother instead, growling menacingly. Butch twitched, somewhat freaked out.

He relaxed again when Brick huffed loudly, shoving Blossom away from him. Butch was impressed that she didn't stumble or even flinch from the force.

"Your a really touchy person aren't you?" Blossom looked over her shoulder at Butch. "No matter how many times myself or Buttercup say it you just can't keep your hand to yourself can you?"

"Course not." Butch grinned when she made no moves to escape his grasp. "With lady's as fine as you are it's impossible not to touch."

Blossom just sighed again, grabbing his wrists and twisting them behind his back. "Well you should start learning to ask permission before you randomly touch others, it's rude and can be considered offensive."

"Since when have I cared about offending others or being rude?" Butch asked grinning smugly. "By the way, I don't think you noticed but your chest is pressed against my back. Not that I'm complaining."

"Ugh!" Blossom shoved him away from her, not bothering to hide the look of disgust on her face. "Hormonal teenage boys, I SWEAR! Can't do anything with them!"

"I disagree. I can think of a lot of things you could do." Butch grinned suggestively, hovering upside down just a foot above the carpet. "Most of them involve a particularly dark room and preferably a flat surface."

"SHUT UP!" the nearly forgotten Boomer snapped, his cheeks burning a bright red from all the new found attention or possibly just anger. "Can't you keep your brain out of the gutter for at least an hour?"

"Geez, what crawled up your ass?" Butch mumbled grumpily, turning himself right side up.

"Thank you Boomer." Blossom nodded at the blonde once before turning back to the green. "Now if you don't mind landing so we can start."

"Huh? Why?" Butch tilted his head to the side.

"We aren't testing flight abilities."

"Yah… but you wanted to know how well we could move right?" Butch folded his legs, placing his hands on his knees, floating higher. "Well I move better in the air."

"No flying." Blossom stated firmly. "Now get down here."

"…No." An impish grin spread across Butch's face. "You want me to come down then come and get me."

Boomer could do nothing but stare in awe. One second his cheeky brother was floating in the air, the next he heard a growl and Blossom had him face planted into the carpet. Even with his enhanced vision all he could make out was a blur. Maybe it was because he blinked too soon.

Looking over at Brick, Boomer decided that it wasn't just him. If his brothers glowering frown was anything to go by. He decided to keep quiet, keep his opinions to himself like usual.

Storing the little tidbit away for future references, Boomer observed his second brothers mock fight. Watching the way the girl would avoid each hit, commenting every now and then.

It only took him a moment to figure out that she was analyzing his every move, how Butch would charge leaving his back open to attack. Or how he would simply swing, trying to beat his opponent through sheer force instead of using any real plan.

Blossom was right, he was impulsive, he didn't think things through. He was being as bull headed as those cows from the first day they got to town. Except that the cows actually had a plan, which was sort of sad, was his brother really that dumb?

He watched as Butch charged Blossom again, the female jumping over him like a game of leapfrog. Yah… he might actually be that dumb… It wasn't long before Butch was sweating like crazy, his top damply clinging tighter to his frame. Blossom on the other hand was the picture of ease, no sweat, no quickened breath, nothing. She was completely calm.

'She must have a lot of endurance.' Boomer though as Butch finally collapsed on the floor, Blossom stepping over him and grabbing his ankles to drag him to the corner of the carpet. She dropped him unceremoniously at Bricks feet before turning to Boomer.

"You ready Blue?"

"Um… aren't you tired?" Boomer asked, honestly curious.

Blossom just shrugged, placing herself into the center of the square. She stood straight this time, shifting her legs wider for better balance, arms extended slightly further from her face than before. Opening one hand palm up, she curled her fingers, waving him closer in an almost arrogant way.

Boomer hesitated, he didn't like being around girls, much less fighting them. Brick, seeing his brothers reluctance, gave him a push. Boomer stumbled forward, tripping over something or possibly just air, and plowed into Blossom. Ducking down a little, Blossom wrapped her arms around him before he fell to the ground.

"Oh. If HE touches your chest you give him a hug but if I do it I get a kick to the gut? I see how it is." Butch groaned from his spot in the ground, rolling onto his side and propping his head up.

Blossom rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored his comment. Shifting a little she helped a flustered Boomer to his feet.

"You ok Blue?"

"Y-yah. I-I'm ok." Boomer jumped back, hand immediately raising to his face as he bit down on his thumb nail.

Blossom had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out right. It wasn't enough to stop the wide smile and quiet chuckle though. The action seemed to surprise the boys, causing Boomer's blush to darken and Butch gape as if he had just witnessed Hell freeze over.

Choosing to ignore them, Blossom returned to her defensive crouch, waiting for the blonde to make his move. Shaking his head slightly, Boomer followed her example, raising his hands to protect his face.

He had a pretty good idea what she was doing with this particular test just from watching his brothers. He also knew that she wouldn't actually be hitting him but that didn't mean he shouldn't be cautious.

'She's trying to see how well we can move.' Boomer contemplated, throwing a quick jab at her face, which was unsurprisingly blocked. 'How fast we can attack and block against an opponent.'

Backpedalling a bit, Boomer aimed a high kick at her face once more, just as he predicted she ducked the blow. Quickly speeding up, he shifted his weight to the foot as soon as it touched down, turning his back on her for a split second to kick out with the opposite foot. His pulse leapt as he felt the tip of his shoe come into contact with her shoulder.

Twirling away, Blossom paused for a moment, looking at the faint dirt smudge across her skin. She seemed shocked about it, rubbing the dirt away, before turning back to him with a grin that made his skin crawl. Where as before she had seemed bored she now looked rather interested in what she was doing but he wasn't so sure that was a good thing.

In the time it took to blink she was standing directly in front of him, right fist pressed firmly beneath his rib cage.

'An uppercut.' his mind unnecessarily pointed out.

Without missing a beat he threw himself back, did a summersault, landing on his hands and vaulted away. The second his feet hit the floor he fell into a crouch, one hand splayed out on the carpet before him, then dashed at her.

Boomer knew that the chances of him actually hitting her were slim to non. She was obviously faster, having been able to surpass his visual sensors time and time again, but that didn't mean he couldn't try.

Like a burst of adrenalin, the blond focused and redirected his energy into his legs, forcing himself to move as fast as he could go. Taking a page from Butch's book, Boomer lowered his shoulders, tilted his head to the side and tackled the girl. Blossom, in the last second, copied his position.

Later that night, Butch would swear up and down, he had felt his teeth rattle from the impact. The collision resulted in a rather violent shockwave that knocked several shelves of weights over and even the near by weight bench. Brick let out an irritated growl as his hat blew off somewhere to the other side of the room.

Boomer made a pained grunt sort of sound as he gave a final shove and leapt back. He was both discouraged and proud to find that he had managed to force her back a good foot and a half. Discouraged because he had accomplished so little, proud because neither of his brothers had been able to do so.

"Good job." With a smug little grin, Blossom straightened up, brushing nonexistent wrinkles from her shirt. "That should be enough."

She waltzed off across the room, scooping up the weight rack and dumbbells, putting them back in their places. Boomer just flopped down on his rear, legs sprawled before him, tugging lightly on his shirt to increase the air flow. Of all the days to wear a long sleeved shirt he just had to pick this day didn't he?

Brick eyed his brothers, both were out of breath, sweating a little. He himself had been a bit out of breath afterwards yet… crimson orbs flicked over the only female present, taking in the ease with witch she moved. She didn't seem tired in the least.

'How?' Was the only thought that would register in his mind as he contemplated the situation. 'What is she made of?'

Watching her like a hawk, Brick tracked Blossom as she finished rearranging things back to how they were, wondering just what she might come up with next.

'Well, whatever it is I'm definitely not loosing to the likes of her.'

•••***•••

'This girl is INSANE!'

Sounds of heavy breathing echoed throughout the bleached white room.

'Exam nothing! That was a freaking work out and a half!' Sprawled out in the middle of the floor on his back, was Butch. Damn he felt like a dog. 'Probably looked like one too.'

The second he had been given the ok, the raven haired Ruff had promptly collapsed onto the floor, tongue lolled out of the corner of his mouth. It was a good thing he had decided to wear shorts today or he'd probably be worse off like poor Boomer.

The blonde was currently on his hand and knees gasping for air. He had worn jeans along with the long sleeved shirt that day and was paying dearly for it. Boomers usually, only slightly messy hair now looked more like a rats nest on his head as it jut out in all directions. Sweat virtually poured off of him, his previously light blue shirt, now several shades darker, soaked in the salty liquid.

Butch had tried telling Boomer that he should take the shirt off so he wouldn't get a heat stroke or something but the blue would hear nothing of it. He absolutely REFUSED to take his shirt off. He was probably just embarrassed since Blossom was there. He was still rather squeamish around girls. How they could still be considered as related, Butch had no clue. Even Brick was more into girls, though not by much.

Speaking of Brick. Rolling his head to the right, Butch caught sight of the older Ruff. Brick was maybe four or five feet away from him, legs splayed out, arms propping him up. He too had worn long jeans but unlike Boomer, Brick had no problems with discarding his top. The now crimson fabric lay crumpled at his feet. Unfortunately, removing his shirt hadn't helped much seeing as he was still drenched in sweat, causing his fiery red hair to stick to his skin.

Butch had to bite his lip to keep from laughing then. The way his brother was leaning back had the light reflecting off his damp skin, reminding Butch of those sparkling vampires. Aww damn, Brick would kill him, no questions asked if he ever found out he had even thought that. 'Thank goodness he's not telepathic.'

Then again he wasn't much better. Butch had long since tossed the tank top he had been wearing along with his shoes and socks. The were probably still next to the weight bench across the room. As previously mentioned, Butch literally had his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. Believe it or not it helped him cool down even if he did look like a dog. His hair was short enough that he didn't have to worry about it sticking to him. Which was fortunate seeing as he had ended up sweating more than the other two Ruffs combined and was practically swimming.

Well to be fair he had done more work than the other two as well. He was after all the most athletic and persistent of the three.

"You boys done yet?" The soft, bell like voice had Butch tilting his head as far back as he could without moving too much.

A few feet behind them was Blossom looking as calm and collected as ever. No wonder Brick was always so mad at his counterpart. Butch was a little ticked himself with how damn relaxed she was. From the second the simulation had started up she had been working them to the bone. Whether it was speed and agility or brute strength she had pushed them to their absolute limit. The worse part was that she had worked along side them and hadn't even broken a sweat. Not one drop! His pride refused to allow him to accept that she, a Powerpuff, could out work all THREE of them.

'What is this chick made of?'

"Powerpuff, I believe the boys are spent. They do not have such intense training as you and your sisters often do." Mojo's voice echoed around the room.

There was another thing that was bothering him. As far as he could tell there wasn't a single speaker in the entire room yet Mojo sounded like a he was speaking through a surround system.

"Seems like it." Blossom crossed her arms sighing loudly. "I really though they could handle this much at least." The disappointment was evident in her voice.

Butch felt the urge to growl at this. Brick beat him to it though as he staggered to his feet glaring at her. Normally this is where the red would be challenging her to do better but unfortunately she had done all that and more.

Somehow Blossom had managed to beat them at every turn. She could out run Boomer, the fastest of the boys, out maneuvered Brick like it was child's play. Though that wasn't too far fetched seeing how flexible she was, which was still hot by the way. What really irritated the green eyed boy was the fact that she could match him in strength.

No one, not even Brick was stronger than him and here comes little Pinky lifting the freaking weight like it was a feather.

To make things worse, he had gone and shot off his stupid mouth about how light the weights were and bragged about how he could lift ten times the measly weight she had used. Needless to say he had piled them on, headless of her warnings, and forgetting that they were far heavier than the printed numbers.

The ending result? She had to help him after he put too much on and nearly crushed himself, talk about emasculating.

Blossom continued talking to Mojo as if she had forgotten that they were even there. It seemed that they were going over some sort of records. Probably comparing the boys to the girls. It wouldn't have bothered him so much if she would just stop sounding so freaking disappointed. It was really pissing him off.

"Well, the statistics don't seem TOO bad. A little more practice and they should be on par with Bubbles, well, in strength at least."

'WHAT?' Did she just imply that even the little blue baby could do better? He must have been hearing things. A glance at Brick had the ravens blood running cold. Brick was gaping like a fish out of water which meant Butch had heard correct. 'And here I thought it was humiliating being shown up by Pinky…'

"Well… I guess that means I'll have to start bringing them over more often than I expected. If I don't they'll never be able to pass the entrance exams..."

"Mojo!" Blossom hissed quietly.

"Oops. Hehe."

'Entrance exams…?' Butch watched curiously as Blossom rubbed her temples. Judging by her reaction, Mojo had just said something he wasn't supposed to.

"Say, Powerpuff. What do you say to a little game. It may help the boys feel better. And possibly stop them from trying to kill me later..." Mojo mumbled the last part, obviously thinking they couldn't hear him.

He was so gonna get that monkey back for this later.

•••000•••

OMG! I AM SO SORRY! *Bows repeatedly*

You wouldn't believe how crammed my summer turned out. Including my part time job I tried signing up for this internship for college. Needless to say that didn't work out cause a few days later I found out that my Aunty signed me up as an aid for the teenagers in the summer fun program.

Including that I can now officially say that my family is screwed in the head cause my mom had a mental meltdown the week after. She ended up calling the cops on herself and got taken to the hospital and put into what essentially was a psych ward. Normally I wouldn't tell anyone about it but I've come to realize that I just don't care anymore.

All that really matters is that I'm ok with who I am so if someone has something bad to say about it they can go screw themselves cause I don't give a flying rats ass.

Anyways, I just had a lot of things going on all at once and just didn't have the time to think about my stories. I seemed to loose all my inspiration and didn't have the motivation to write more. I finally just kicked myself in the ass and forced myself to write this and still I got lazy about half-way through so only the first half of the chapter is any different from before. I will probably come back some time in the future and re-write it the way I want it later.

I'd like to apologize to all of you that have been waiting for this. I swear that I will try my best to update more frequently. And don't worry I do not, I repeat NOT, intend to leave this or any other story behind. I can't stand when people do that so I won't do that to any of you.

Thanks to all of you that have stuck around for so long, I really appreciate it. 


	8. PR8:

PR 8:

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story line. Not the characters, not the music, nothing! Just the story line.

This chapter pisses me off to no end... Sorry if the ending is crappy but after spending nearly two months on it and getting nowhere I finally decided to just post it. I'm kind of a perfectionist and don't like when I find something wrong with my stuff but I just couldn't seem to fix it like I wanted.

•••000•••

Three pairs of eyes stared in silent awe at the scene before them, watching as the paper white walls of the gym room faded away.

Brick let out an indignant yelp of surprise as the bench he was leaning against suddenly became intangible, causing him to tumble to the floor in a very undignified heap.

Butch shoved his knuckles against in his mouth to muffle the roar of laughter that threatened to escape. Boomer blinked in surprise, turning to wave his hands through the once solid objects around him. Moments later the entire room had disappeared, leaving the four teens suspended in darkness.

It was a bit unnerving, like being trapped in one of HIM's dimensional pockets again, but not quite the same.

Butch could feel the floor beneath his feet so he assumed that he was still standing on it, even though he could see nothing there, or anywhere for that matter. Even his own hand directly in front of his face didn't seem to be there. Although for some reason he could see the glow of the visor things as clear as day.

There was a lurching feel, as though he were falling for a split second before the ground reappeared beneath his shoes, though the previous carpet had become asphalt. After the asphalt came little specks of, glass?

Butch blinked again, watching as the ground slowly spiderwebbed, cracking in various places, completely disappearing in others. More shattered glass appeared, along with flecks of dirt and spots of nasty chewed up gum.

Faded yellow lines surfaced nearby marking what could soon be recognized as a road. Dirty cream colored concrete rose out of the asphalt becoming beaten sidewalks heading in all sorts of directions.

A throbbing sort of mechanical thrum echoed in the air before tall, weather worn, buildings materialized from thin air. Their faded red brick walls cracking or peeling and in most cases spray painted. Most looked pretty beat up.

It took Butch all of a second to recognize where he was.

If he hadn't known better he would have said they were back at the outskirts of the city. Everything looked so real… even down to the trash on the side of the street and the occasional dilapidated car. It was almost a perfect copy of the bad side of town. The only thing missing was the gangs and hobos. Scratch that, the only thing missing was the people period. There wasn't a single living thing in sight.

Now normally this is the part where he would begin to get creeped out but he didn't have to dwell on those thoughts for long. A few moments after the buildings and their mildly cracked or boarded up windows settled in something shiny caught in the edge of his vision. Turning around, Butch literally gaped at the sight before him.

'I TAKE IT ALL BACK! I LOVE THAT MONKEY!' Butch felt like a kid in a candy shop all over again. He was really beginning to fall in love with these Puffs too, they never ceased to amaze him.

Judging by the looks Boomer was throwing, Butch assumed he had that 'creepy' smile on his face again. He didn't care though, there was rows upon rows of bikes that had appeared in front of him.

'My favorite color IS Crome!' Ok so technically it was green but still! He could see his reflection just about everywhere on any one of those Motorcycles. 'Not even a fingerprint!'

Not bothering to contain his excitement, Butch dashed off along the expanse of mechanical wonders, each one more beautiful than the last. It didn't matter that none of them had shells or any form of outer body's. That just meant he had an easier time seeing and admiring them.

His eyes widened again as he stopped on a dime, zeroing in on a particularly beautiful bike. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered just how big his eyes could get before they inevitably fell out or at least dried up. Hovering around, he examined every angle of the gorgeous bike before him, prodding at parts and freaking out over the fingerprints he left behind.

"I had a feeling you'd like this one." Butch was so preoccupied that he hadn't noticed Blossom until she was standing beside him. Nearly jumping out of his skin, Butch toppled back to look at her as she leaned against the seat, slightly flustered by the distance between them. "Buttercup's got a soft spot for this model too. Growls like a Jaguar." She cooed, seemingly unaware that she was practically leaning over him.

He had never noticed before but her creamy skin was actually covered in a light dust of freckles.

Just as his hormones began fogging his brain, demanding attention, all was forgotten in favor of the shiny slip of metal fished from a pocket now dangling between her slim fingers.

"Wanna start em up?" Blossom questioned, raising a delicate eyebrow.

No need to ask twice! In the blink of an eye Butch snatched the keys and slid it into the ignition. In seconds flat the engine roared to life, growling like a wild cat.

There was just no explaining the feeling he got each time he heard an engine like this. It was indescribable! The power behind the engines that made it roar so loud he could literally FEEL the vibrations buzzing through to his very core. It was like a small dose of ecstasy!

"Hey Mojo. Type in code 09BC17" Blossom called out beside him.

Oh shit. Was he seeing things? Roughly rubbing his eyes, Butch blinked a few times to see if he was imagining it. No… he wasn't imagining.

"I've seen heaven…" Murmuring breathlessly, emerald orbs danced over the sleek body drinking in the sight. The coloration of the bike had turned a deep emerald green. Black ghost flames and jade skulls flashed in the light over the tinted Crome. The handle bars and wheel walls even took on a chain like design.

Fingers twitching spasmodically, Butch glanced at Blossom, asking for permission. Sure he was a Ruff but even he had some sense of respect, especially for someones bikes or cars.

Pulling back she gave a simple nod of the head and he was glued to the seat probably looking like a four year old on crack if Boomers expression was anything to go by.

"Well since Butch has obviously chosen a bike already, which one of you wants to ride with him?" Blossoms voice seemed distant in his ears as if he were in a tunnel. He hardly even registered what was going on around him, even the long lines of bikes that vanished into thin air, until he felt someone sitting down behind him.

Swiveling his head around he was shocked to see Brick. The redhead didn't look too happy and for some reason he was holding something that looked eerily like a gun. His eyes must have bugged out of the sockets then.

"Bro, I swear," Butch started slowly, hands up in surrender. "If this is about the itching powder, it was all Boomer's idea."

"Figures you weren't listening." Brick rolled his eyes, huffing in exasperation, he paused a second later, crimson orbs narrowed dangerously as he registered his brothers words. "Wait a minute, what itching powder?"

"Huh?" Butch blinked, attempting to look as innocent or clueless as possible.

Brick stared the green down, daring him to elaborate upon his previous statement. When It became obvious that Butch wasn't about to say anything anytime soon Brick relented, but not without a final glare. He would get the information out of his brother later.

"Were playing a game. It's some type of laser gun or something. I don't really get most of it but apparently this is like one of those Speed Racer games only with Motorcycles instead of cars." Brick fumbled with some sort of velcro wrist band, strapping it down tight before handing Butch a second one. "Here."

"What's that for?"

"I don't know! Just put it on."

Blinking owlishly, Butch stared at Brick for a moment trying to absorb the new information while he absently wrapped the black band around his wrist just above where the previous one had been. He snapped around when he heard the distinct sound of another engine to the right. If he had been surprised to see Brick sitting next to him he was down right shocked at what he was seeing now.

Blossom was seated on a blood red bike. A fiery nine tailed fox, in mid stride was painted into the side. The paint was so realistic that it gave off the look of dancing fire and moving fur as they rolled forward. Her clothes only accentuated the looks with her midnight black sweat pants and hot pink fitted tank top. 'Holly fuck she looks hot...' there was no doubt that he was openly starring.

That wasn't what caught his attention though. What surprised him was who was seated behind her. Practically lying on Blossoms back, arms wrapped firmly around her waist, legs pressed tightly to her thighs so as not to fall off, was none other than Boomer. Hell, judging by the position, Butch had no doubt that the blonde was pressed against every inch of the girl.

Oh what he'd give to be in his brothers place. The saddest part was that Boomer didn't know how to appreciate the moment and was obviously nervous about being so close to her when he should have been enjoying it.

'Stupid blue boy. Note to self, get Boomer over his fear of girls.'

"Ok Mojo, code 001RC28." Blossom called, laying flat over the bike. Butch couldn't help but notice how her breasts mashed against the gas tank. His ogling was cut short when he felt the bike shift under him. "Its to adjust the weight distribution."

Looking over them again, Butch took note of how the frames lengthened to accommodate both riders. Normally he'd expect the length to make the bikes look weird but they actually looked better this way. He was about to ask how they could change like they did but decided to leave it to imagination and brush it off as a feature of the game.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way." Blossom turned to look at him, a sneaky, almost seductive smirk plastered on her cherry lips. "Show me whatcha got boys."

Gunning the engine, the bike reared up, charging foreword. This in turn caused Boomer to yelp and cling tighter to the redhead until the wheel returned to the asphalt.

"What ya waiting for idiot? Go!" Brick snapped, cuffing Butch on the head. Snapping out of his daze, The green Ruff raced off trying to catch up to the other bike which was already a speck of red on the horizon.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Boomer's terrified shouts echoed out over the buildings like a siren. "SLOW DOWN!"

Either Blossom didn't hear him or the girl was choosing to ignore the boy whom by this time had wrapped himself around her like an octopus. Even at a distance, Brick could still see the look of surprise and mild fear on the blond.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Brick snapped, readjusting his grip on the laser gun and his brothers shoulder.

"Course it can." Butch grinned darkly, flexing his fingers over the handle. "You might wanna hold on tighter though."

"Wha-aaahhh!" Flailing wildly so as not to fall off, Brick grabbed onto Butch's belt as the green gunned the engine.

"A little warning next time, would ya!" he snapped, smacking the ravens shoulder with the butt of the gun.

"I said you should hold tighter." Butch shrugged nonchalantly, glancing over his shoulder with an eye roll. "Not my fault you never listen."

Choosing not to acknowledge that statement, Brick simply glared, pointing towards where Blossom and Boomer had disappeared around a bend in the distance. Grinning like the mad man Brick knew he was, Butch cranked the throttle as far as it could go, not bothering to slow down as he turned sharply at the corner, leaning so far that he could touch the ground.

He regret that decision a second later, slamming the breaks, nearly tossing Brick over his shoulders. ("The fuck is wrong with you?") Pausing for a moment, Butch allowed the bike to roll slowly as he took in the cramped space. They had entered a street market or bazaar sort of area if the many boxes and general clutter was anything to go by.

Glancing ahead, he spotted the pink Puff and blue Ruff zigzagging through the maze, alternating between gassing and breaking but still managing to keep up the fast pace. Ducking around a particularly large crate in the middle of the street, Blossom changed her direction, heading straight towards the back of an old school farm truck.

Butch's first reaction was to shout at them, call them idiots for not paying attention or throw something, anything to make them notice the cluttered truck they were about to crash into.

His concern was unfounded, for in the few moments before the two would hit the fruit/vegetable crates Blossom flattened herself against the bike. Boomer, leaning back and away, wrapped both hands around the laser gun and fired. A blaze of cobalt burst from the muzzle, clearing the loading ramp in an explosion of wood and produce.

"Did you see that!" Boomer shouted enthusiastically, undeterred by the watermelon juice now splattered across his cheeks. Giving the pink liquid a quick lick he grinned, spitting out a seed. "That was awesome!"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot YOU with this thing." Brick drawled out in a dangerously calm voice, pulling Butch back to the situation at hand. "First you drop a weight on my foot, then you try to throw me off the bike, not once but TWICE! And let's not forget the itching powder I still have to find."

"Eeh heh." Butch chuckled nervously. "Sorry?"

Brick growled, fingering the trigger, still eyeing the raven like a cat debating whether it wanted to play with a half dead mouse a little longer.

"Hurry up. We still have to find them." Brick said, dropping the issue for the time being.

"Ugh…"

Butch gazed wide eyed over the cramped space he would have to maneuver for a moment longer. With something along the lines of a pout coupled with a sneer he huffed in irritation before yanking the bike around. There was no way he would be able to get through, his bike was larger than the other and consequently wouldn't fit. Heading down the street he attempted to map the area out by memory, trying to guess where Blossom and Boomer would end up.

Brick took this time to better acquaint himself with his new weapon, blowing up random signs, streetlights, and the occasional window. Taking aim he shot three rounds at another stoplight scowling a bit when he only hit the red and yellow, missing the green.

It was a good thing none of this was real, dealing with the cops would be a hassle. There was no way he was going to juvie again. Speaking of Juvie… Butch was pretty sure they were still supposed to be locked up in there, why they had been let out was beyond him, not that he was about to start complaining.

Picking up the sounds of a distant explosion Butch took a left at the next bend. Cutting closer to the sidewalk than he normally would the emerald eyed boy yelped in surprise as something came flying out of nowhere, aiming straight for his head.

Butch flattened himself against the bike frame. A sudden jerk at his waist nearly pulled him back up but he stubbornly stayed put. Peeking over his shoulder he found the source. Not having enough space to lean forward and duck under whatever it was that had nearly cleaned his head out, Brick had done the opposite. Grabbing onto Butch's loose belts for support he leaned backwards instead, not the least bit fazed about his upper body hanging completely off the seat.

The offending projectile flew clear across the street, imbedding itself into the side of a building, but only after slicing clean through a lamp post.

"Holy crap!" Butch swore, gaping wide eyed at the serrated metal disk which looked to be the size of a manhole cover. "That thing could have took my head off! Well, probably not, but that would have left a nasty bruise."

"Well… this might be harder than anticipated." Sitting back up, Brick lifted his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. A quirk Butch had noticed for whenever the red was thinking.

"Wait a minute. You knew that was gonna happen?!" Butch shouted, not paying any attention to the road.

"Well I knew something was gonna happen." Brick grinned impishly. "Didn't know it was gonna be a buzz saw though, an watch where your goin!"

"You knew, and you didn't warn me?" Butch accused, the bike swerving dangerously.

"I'm warning you now." Brick slapped Butch on the shoulder, grabbing the raven by the hair and making him look ahead. "An watch where your going dumb ass. We're gonna crash!"

"Yah, whatever." Butch grunted noncommittally, straightening the wheel.

•••***•••

"Ok… I know I don't say this often, but… THIS CHICK IS SCARY!" Butch shouted over the roaring wind, swerving to avoid an incoming blast of energy. "EVEN HIM'S NOT THIS BAD! SHE'S FUCKING NUTS!"

"For once I agree with you! Shit! Look out!" Brick ducked, tightening his grip around Butch as the green did a hairpin turn, barely dodging a second blast of magenta. "That girl belongs in a loony bin!"

Engines roared as streaks of red, blue, and green tore down the street, asphalt flying in every direction. After nearly twenty minutes of racing through the city streets, Brick practicing his aim and Butch nearly crashing into the seemingly endless array of obstacles that appeared from every nook and cranny, the boys had finally found their brother and the pink Puff.

It hadn't been easy though for just like in video games, weapons of all shapes and sizes seemed to appear from nowhere. Get too close to a building and a colossus buzz saw or poisoned spikes shot out at you. Don't pay attention to the road and lasers popped out of the concrete, barrels blazing.

The heavy artillery had caught them by surprise on more than one occasion. Already Brick had lost one leg of his jeans and the bottom left corner of his shirt while Butch sported quite a few scorch marks.

As much of a threat as all of this was, they were nothing compared to the psychotic redhead on the blazing red bike though.

'If this chick isn't an assassin, SHE SHOULD BE!'

Though Blossom had originally started out driving some time along the way, probably around the point that she realized that Boomer wouldn't shoot his brothers, they had swapped places.

Just remembering it had Butch the slightest bit hot under the collar. Never in his life had he seen a girl flex quite like that before. Granted he never really cared to find out, he didn't want to look like a creep.

Somehow, she had managed to throw her leg over the handlebars of the bike. From there she stood up on one side, tossing the same leg over Boomer's back. The blonde in turn slid foreword on the bike to allow her space, his hands slipping under her palms to grip the handles. Once on the seat, instead of wrapping her arms around Boomer like Butch expected, Blossom had wrapped her legs around the blues torso.

His initial reaction to this was thinking how hot that looked and how much he wished he could be in his brothers place. Hormones were a real pain in the ass, why did they have to be so distracting? About two seconds later he realized just how much shit he was in though now that she was positioned like that.

Using her legs to hold on had freed both her arms, thus allowing Blossom to use not only her own laser but Boomer's as well. The blonde, to his credit, was unexpectedly good at driving and somehow was managing to avoid just about everything that came flying at them.

Butch on the other hand was having difficulties, it seemed that no matter what he did or where he went, he always managed to trigger another trap and soon enough had ended up behind. A place, he found, that was not to his liking.

Ducked low over the bike the raven ruff tried his best to avoid the incoming beams of magenta and cobalt blue. Shots of crimson flashed past, blocking what he couldn't.

"Come on Butch! We are NOT loosing to that pink snob!" Growling loudly, Brick shot off a barrage of crimson bullets, watching as they fell in sheets towards the other bike.

Dropping back, Blossom laid down over the seat. With pinpoint accuracy she shot every beam, fire and air exploding around them as the blasts collide.

'And there's that freaking smirk again!' Butch would have been furious if it hadn't looked so damn sexy.

"Come on, you can do better than that can't ya?" Blossom taunted sending a hail of cobalt at them.

Butch swerved, coming perilously close to a parked car, cleaning out the side mirror. In the confusion he hardly even noticed the magenta bullets that streaked past his face, missing him by hairs. "You haven't even hit us yet!"

"That girl is getting on my last nerves!" Using both hands, Brick aimed and fired a few rounds, most managing to come close to the Puff though not close enough to hit.

"Now THAT'S more like it! Come on boys!" Blossoms taunting voice took on a sing song tone then and Butch could swear he heard faint music playing through his headset.

"WILL YOU STOP SINGING!" Butch flicked his left wrist out in front of him creating a tiny barrier of energy just in time to block the bullet headed towards his chest.

"Why?!" Blossom actually sounded surprised for a moment before brushing it off. She began swaying slightly, hands moving like drum beats. "Try to guess this next one and maybe I'll listen. 'I know you know, I see you smiling at me. Well, it's alright! It's alright!"

Surprisingly enough it was something the raven recognized. He took a moment to wonder why Blossom would know a rock song, she seemed more the type that liked classical junk. None the less he answered her question.

"Boom, from P.O.D.!"

"Yah!" Blossom grinned, swaying precariously as Boomer took a sharp turn. "One more time. 'I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin, I must confess that I feel like a-"

"MONSTER!" Butch shouted, a sonic boom blasting forth, missing Blossom by hairs. He was really getting annoyed with the girl.

"There ya go! But you still gotta loosen up a little! This games supposed to be fun! It gets boring if your all tense." Grinning excitedly, the redheaded female bobbed rhythmically. "It's hidin in the dark!"

"It's teeth are razor sharp!" Oh great, now Boomer was singing too.

'There's no escape for me.' The lyrics seemed to play through his mind, calming his tense nerves slightly. The obstacles on the road suddenly seemed easier to avoid the more he relaxed. 'It's just some virtual reality. Since when did I start worrying about getting hurt?'

The second that thought passed through the green Ruffs mind the obstacles seemed to melt away. Getting his confidence back, Butch gunned the engine, the bike rising slightly as they caught up. Coming alongside Blossom and Boomer, he gave Brick the perfect shot.

Blossom had only just managed to sit back up before Brick hit them point blank. There was no way he missed this time. A cloud of smoke explode around them. Seconds later, two bikes erupt from the cloud, blitzing down the road in streaks of red and green.

"What? How the hell!?" Brick snarled, glaring daggers at the girl across from him.

"NOW things are getting interesting." Arms still crossed in front of her face, Blossom gave an undeniably sadistic smirk, slight burn marks appearing over the right side of her face.

'Ok, sexy psycho chick! Hot AND creepy!'

•••***•••

'Bed. Beeed~'

Holy crap. Never, in his life, had he EVER been so tired! Every muscle ached, screaming for mercy. Just moving his fingers had him groaning. It pissed him off!

He was BUTCH damn it, the toughest of the Rowdyruffs! The guy that could take on a freaking tank without even trying! So what the fuck was he doing whining like a pansy? What happened to his 'no pain, no gain' motto?

Butch attempted to sit, only to collapse on the bed in a pile of green and black. His arms felt like they were being hacked to pieces with a dull wood chipper. This was definitely the side effects of that, quote, unquote 'examination' and 'game' Blossom had them do.

And just to make his LOVELY-note sarcasm-evening worse, Mojo told them that they were going to go back again the next day. There was no way his day could get worse.

"BUTCH! It's your turn to do dishes! Get down here!" Boomer yelled from somewhere downstairs.

'Really? Great day Butch, great day.'

•••000•••

Aahh! I haven't updated in like forever! I'm so sorry! I've been really busy with a whole bunch of crap. Not to mention my new job as a game room monitor. Normally one would think the job is easy, which for the most part it is, but it can get pretty difficult when you gotta watch all the kids like a freaking rabid guard dog. I tried being nice for the first two days and one of these little fuckers stole a video game! Give an inch, they take a mile! Now I'm stuck sitting at my desk watching them like a hawk every day.

On a different note. I told myself to write my other story before I do this one. So I kept trying and failing with my writers block. Finally I just gave in and wrote this again.

Honestly the whole idea for this chapter came from this picture I found of this bad ass devil chick with a pair of guns. Then I thought of how awesome it would look if she was on a motorcycle. Combine that with this Speed Racer type idea I had and my brain went into overdrive.

The first thing that came to mind was the thought of Blossom lying flat on her back, along the seat of the bike, firing some sort of gun behind her while flying down the street. I originally thought of making them each be on individual bikes but it made things a little harder and I figured that would end up an information overload for the boys. Even if they all could drive to drive while dodging and firing bullets would be too complicated. So I partnered them up and decided to make the guns fire lasers instead.

Please leave a review and tell me how I did so I can try to make the next chapter better cause I plan on making this game be a little more common. I just hope I can make it interesting enough since I've found that I suck at action scenes.

Thank you! ^_^ 


	9. PR9:

PR 9:

IM BAAAAACK~!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Powerpuff Girls or characters from the show.

•••000•••

SNORE

"Huh?" Emerald green eyes fluttered open, blinking blearily. With a loud yawn, Buttercup sat up, looking around.

She was lying on a long neon green couch. To her left was an enormous wide screen tv mounted to the wall. Beneath it was a short table like shelf with glass doors, on top and inside of which were various gaming systems and a wide assortment of games. Beside them were five foot speakers, though those were farther away so as not to block the tv.

It took her all of three seconds to remember that she had fallen asleep in the living room. Reaching down, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, checking the time.

4:30 A.M.

No wonder she was so tired, she had been awake until at least midnight. The green Puff was notorious for being a heavy sleeper so what could have woken her up?

THUMP!

"Uuugh!"

Green orbs flicked to the left to find the source of the sound. Buttercup couldn't help but grin sleepily when her eyes landed on the figure on the floor.

Tangled in a fuzzy blanket like a burrito was her stupidly awesome best friend. He had fallen asleep on the love seat next to the couch some time around eleven and she hadn't bothered to wake him.

'Wait. Did we have blankets last night?' looking down, Buttercup found that she too was wrapped snugly in a soft blanket. On the floor was a plush pillow that she must have knocked away while she slept. A tiny smile crept onto her lips as she vaguely recalled her pink sister wrapping the sheets around the two sleepy teens the night before. 'Thanks sis.'

Picking up the pillow, Buttercup lay back on the couch closing her eyes.

SNORE

'So that's what woke me up.' Buttercup glared irately at the brunet as if her stare alone could shut him up.

Mitch wriggled around on the floor, rolling over before snoring again. 'It's a wonder he can even sleep on a bed.' The boy had always been a restless sleeper, and snorer. When finally she got irritated with the sound, Buttercup whipped the pillow at his head. With a muffled grunt, Mitch shifted a bit but remained quiet.

'Maybe now I can get some sleep.' Green orbs closed once more, welcoming the land of dreams, her consciousness slowly ebbing away.

SNORE

'FUCK!' glaring at the boy for a moment, Buttercup reached across the couch for the pile of cushions she always left there.

Grasping a particularly soft one, she dragged it back over before plopping down on it and laying one arm over her ear.

SNORE

Growling quietly, she pulled the cushion over her head. When the sound persisted, Buttercup wrapped her arms around the cushion, forcing it down over her ears, practically burrowing into it.

…

'Finally…' sighing with triumph, Buttercup slowly nodded off, the foggy haze of sleep enveloping her like a warm blanket.

SNORE

Her eyes snapped back open, a dangerous green glow dimly lighting the room. Propping herself up on her forearms, the teen glared at Mitch's prone form. The brunet slumbered on blissfully unaware of his friends steadily mounting anger.

With an angry scowl, Buttercup rolled over, getting off the couch. Dragging her blanket with her she plopped down into the soft carpeting beside the boy. Starring dazedly, her half asleep thought process sluggish, Buttercup wavered slightly. Finally she reached out grabbing the pillow and mushing it down over Mitch's face.

He squirmed a bit, muffled groans escaping through the thick cotton. Rolling over, he curled into himself, shifting away. Leaving the pillow over his head, Buttercup flopped down, snuggling into her blanket.

Though she had no way of telling how much time had passed, Buttercup was certain that it had been mere minutes since she had finally succumbed to sleep, only to be woken once again. Pushing herself up on her right arm she grabbed the pillow which had fallen from Mitch's face. Placing it back in it's previous spot she lay over it, smothering him beneath the fluff. This seemed to work for a good minute before the loud rumbles of his snores once again could be heard. It was a miracle that the boy could even breath much less snore and even with the extra layer, if anything, he actually got louder. The deep vibrations seemed to buzz in the Puffs ears, rattling her brain in her skull. Sitting up once again she glared at the boy, willing him to stop.

Buttercup pulled the pillow off his face.

His snores got louder.

She smacked the pillow back down.

Mitch stayed quiet, wriggling around in the blanket for all of five seconds before settling back down and starting up again. Oblivious to the world, he rumbled on, the sound becoming a loud gargle as drool pooled at the back of his throat.

Buttercup felt her right eye begin to twitch.

•••***•••

"ABUSE! ABUSE!"

"GET BACK HERE AND TAKE YOU PUNCHES LIKE A MAN!"

Mitch's tall form zipped down the hall way, ducking around corners, shrieking in terror. After trying, unsuccessfully, to sleep for who knows how long, Buttercup had finally snapped.

Screaming like a little girl, Mitch dashed around the corner slipping on the floor. He crashed into the wall but quickly picked himself up and continued running as if the hounds of Hell were at his feet. Which frankly, he'd have felt safer with than an angry Buttercup. At least then he'd stand a chance.

Buttercup's eyes widened as she realized just where her idiot friend was heading. Picking up speed, she attempted to grab him but was too late as the door flew open. Mitch dashed into the dark room, running to the large bed at the far wall.

"Blossom! Help! She's gonna kill me!" Mitch wailed, making a heroic dive onto the soft mattress, ducking behind the pink Puff whom had just sat up.

Buttercup froze in the door way staring into the room. "Mitch, move away, SLOWLY." she whispered cautiously, eyes glued on Blossom who had yet to open her eyes. Buttercup knew from experience that, even though she was sitting up, Blossom was still asleep.

The pink Puff had become a bit of an insomniac and rarely slept, so when she did it was best to leave her alone seeing as she was also a sleep walker.

As the old saying goes 'Let sleeping dogs lie.' and this was one she definitely didn't want to mess with. She loved her sister, really she did, but Blossom could be a real bitch when she just wakes up. And this coming from the girl that took being called a bitch as a compliment was really saying something.

Mitch remained on the bed cowering behind Blossoms teetering form. Grabbing her blanket, Blossom tossed it aside. Magenta orbs opened lazily as she stood up, completely unaware of the others around her. Walking around the bed, Blossom opened the door in the far wall and stepped into her bathroom closing it behind her.

…

"…I'm sorry. Am I imagining things or was your sister wearing nothing but her underwear?" Mitch questioned in a stunned, slightly husky voice as he stared at the closed door. "I mean, I've seen her walking around in the middle of the night in sleep shorts and a bra before. But she wasn't wearing sleep shorts this time… and did my last brain cell finally die or was she not wearing a bra either?"

That was another reason why she didn't want Mitch in her sisters room. It was a good thing Blossom had hair long enough to cover herself. Growling in irritation, Buttercup walked over to Mitch whom looked ready to follow the redhead, grabbing him by the ear and dragging him out of the room before he could reach the bathroom door.

"If you EVER, run into Blossoms room again I swear I'm gonna castrate you!" Buttercup hissed as she closed the door behind her. "Now. Where was I? Oh yah."

WHACK!

•••***•••

"Oh my gosh, Mitch! What happened to your eye?" Jumping up from her seat at the counter, Bubbles ran around the table. She immediately cupped said boys face in her hands as she turned him from side to side surveying the damage.

The teens, minus Blossom, were currently seated at the kitchen table. Bubbles had prepared a small breakfast for them before they left for school.

Mitch's dark brown eyes darted over to Buttercup as he scowled grumpily, gnawing on a slice of bacon. Bubbles followed his view to her older sister.

"Buttercup! I can't believe you!" Bubbles scolded, making her way to the ice box. "You should know better. You gave poor Mitch a black eye!"

Opening the freezer, Bubbles pulled out a few ice cubes and wrapped them in a napkin before returning to the table.

"Hey, don't be scolding me." Buttercup defended. "He kept me up with his snoring all morning!"

"That still docent mean you can hit him." Bubbles gently pressed the ice to the brunets darkening eye.

"He also ran into Blossoms room."

"…"

WHACK

"OOOWWW! What was that for?!" Match yelped, holding his head.

"Are you stupid?! Do you have a death wish or something?" Bubbles yelled, whacking Mitch over the head a second time for good measure. "What on earth would possess you to go in there?"

"So much for being the sugar Puff." Mitch mumbled. "Your just as mean-OW!"

"I heard that."

"I'm waiting in the garage!" Mitch whined running out the door to avoid further hits. Though not before grabbing a handful of bacon. "Your all abusive!"

"Idiot." Buttercup murmured watching him go.

When they was finished, Buttercup and Bubbles made their way out to the garage. Since Blossom wasn't going to school that day they couldn't take the car. Bubbles would be catching a ride back home with her boyfriend afterwards so Buttercup would finally get to take her bike.

It had been weeks since it had broken down and Blossom had finally gotten around to fixing it. Buttercup was a fairly good mechanic herself but not quite up to par with her sister. It was times like this that she wished the Professor hadn't had that accident with his experiment all those years ago. The girls had always had things that they were better at then the others but ever since that accident, Blossom was always lightyears ahead of them. It sort of irritated the green Puff how her older sister was now better at just about everything. She couldn't really blame her though, not like it was her fault.

Grabbing the keys off the wall, she made her way over to her newly repaired motorcycle. Walking it to the lift, she waited for Bubbles and Mitch to make their way over. The latter of the two trying to wipe off bacon grease.

"You better not get that on my baby!" Green eyes flashed dangerously as she snapped at Mitch.

"I know, I know! Jeez, your so damn protective of this thing." Mitch grumbled, wiping his hands on his jeans.

"Well I wouldn't be so protective if you would stop getting grease and oil on him!"

"And there's the reason I refuse to ride on the bike!" Mitch wailed, flapping his arms in the air. "Why do you have to call it a 'HE'? Why can't it be a she?"

"The same reason you won't ride on it because I call it a he." Buttercup replied.

"What are you guys talking about?" Bubbles asked her head tilted in utter confusion.

"I call the bike a he because there's no way I'm putting a girl between my legs." Buttercup stated, ignoring Bubbles entirely. "I have no problems with homo's as long as they aren't after me."

"Well I'm not straddling a guy!" Mitch snapped back.

"Which is why you don't ride the bike."

"So basically, Mitch docent like riding the bike cause Buttercup calls it a guy. And Buttercup calls it a guy cause she docent want to call it a girl." Bubbles summed.

"Pretty much." the other two teens replied.

"Your both homophobes," Bubbles sighed rolling her eyes as she sat on the back of the motorcycle. "and this conversation is ridiculous so can we just get out of here?"

"Sure, sure." Buttercup yawned.

The lift came to a stop then as the garage door opened. Staring up the bike, the raven revved the engine a few times before starting off at a slow pace.

Standing on his skateboard, Mitch grabbed on to the handle just beside the seat of the bike that Blossom had made just for him. Once Buttercup was sure that Bubbles was seated comfortably and Mitch had a firm grip she sped up. The three teens speeding down the winding road.

•••***•••

"I can still feel my face tingling!" Giggling like an insane asylum patent, Mitch poked at his cheek with his finger a few more times. "I think my eyes dried out too!"

"Oh greaaat-he rode-on the back-of the bike again-didn't he?" Harry and Floyd asked as Buttercup and Mitch walked over to them.

One twin was lying against a tree while the other was dangling from a branch just above the first ones head. The four of them were in the forests behind the school, just out of sight of the other students. It had become a favorite hangout for them since it not only allowed them to see what was going on but also kept them out of sight. That and it was a perfect place to hide from the teachers when they ditched class, which was a regular occurrence.

Buttercup ignored the twins as she hopped up into the tree, lying lazily on one of the high branches. The boys had dubbed it 'Buttercups branch' for some odd reason. Probably because it was comfortable and she always sat there, and that no one else could get to it.

"Hey BC, whatcha think of that new guy?" Mitch glanced up lazily as he lay sprawled out on the grass.

"Yah, it's obvious you don't like him." Harry stated matter-of-factly. "What did he do?"

"And why does he look so familiar?" Floyd questioned slouching further against the tree trunk.

"Are you guys seriously asking me that or are you just playing dumb?" Folding her arms she glared at the three boys. "Did you idiots seriously forget about the Rowdyruff Boys?"

"He was one of them? We always-wondered what-happened to-them." Harry and Floyd answered.

"Think their still trouble makers?" Mitch wondered aloud, twirling a blade of grass in the air. "Then again, even if they are they wont be for long."

"Yah. If you-know-who gets her way, which she usually does, they're probably gonna have to start helping us out." Floyd grumbled, picking up a pebble and tossing it.

"Hopefully they can help us out instead of cause trouble." Stretching out like a cat, Harry repositioned himself on the branch. "It'd make things way easier for us with their help."

Buttercup listened silently as the boys talked. On one hand they were right, having the Ruffs on their side would make their job a lot easier. But at the same time her pride refused to allow her to accept help from them of all people.

Boomer wasn't so bad, he was almost like a guy version of Bubbles. Blonde and dim witted at times. Though she knew they could both be sharp as tacks if they really tried. Bubbles had to be to do her job right. Boomer had to be smart as well if he wanted to build robots.

His brothers were a different story though. Brick just screamed Anti-social. It was like he constantly had a stick up his ass or something. Seriously, the guy did nothing but glare at everything. If she didn't know any better Buttercup would have thought his face were stuck that way. Didn't help much that he was a conceded prick whenever someone tried to be nice. She could only like one know-it-all and it sure as Hell wasn't him.

And Butch, don't get her started on that arrogant, pompous ass, just thinking about the green Ruff had her blood boiling. To think that HE was her counterpart. Besides being the physically strongest of their siblings the two were nothing alike. They-

"I'm pretty sure he likes you ya know." Mitch's bold statement brought Buttercup back from her internal rant.

She stared at the boy for a moment wondering if she had heard right. Blinking a few times she snorted loudly "He's just a perv, probably drools over anything with breasts and a pair of legs."

"And an ass, don't forget ass." Floyd seemed to be counting them off on his fingers.

"Hey! You better not-" Buttercup snapped, scowling at the black haired boy.

"Buttercup. Just because the word ass came up in a sentence does not, I repeat, NOT mean were referring to you." Harry said in a bored voice, not even bothering to look up at her, repositioning his chin on his forearm. He was getting tired of having to repeat himself all the time. "We know it's noticeable but were not starring at it ok."

Green orbs flicked to the left, pointedly staring at the brunet lying in the grass. Mitch had that dumb look on his face again and she swore he'd be drooling if his mouth were open. Maybe she'd be lucky and he'd drown on his spit.

"Yah… but that's just Mitch." Floyd stated after following Buttercups line of sight. He gave the boy a swift kick in the leg, smirking when Mitch let out a starteled yelp. "Docent exactly have all the lights on upstairs."

"Plus he drools over anything even remotely female." Harry muttered with a grimace.

"Hey! Will you jerks stop talking about me like I'm not even here!" Mitch jumped up to his feet, glowering at the twins before him.

The three of them proceeded into another of their many pointless augments. They grumbled so much it was annoying half the time. Buttercup was used to it though and just tuned them out before remembering about her mp3 player. Digging it out of her pants pocket, she pulled the headphones out of her bag and plugged them in.

She didn't really feel like going to class today. It was just a bunch of boring shit she had already learned. So when the bell rang, she ignored it completely even as the twins and Mitch stomped off, oblivious to the fact that she wasn't with them.

'Boys. They really do have one tracked minds.' she watched them until they disappeared around the side of the building before rolling over. Lying on her side, she stared off into the distance, looking for something interesting.

Snap

Senses on high alert, Buttercup sprang up. The headphones fell to her shoulders as she perched on the branch like an owl. Her eyes glowed faintly as she looked around for the source of the sound. She had learned the hard way that one could never be too careful.

Nothing seemed out of place. Shrugging slightly, she decided to brush it off… until she noticed the oddly shaped shadow. In the blink of an eye her fist blazed green as she shot an energy bullet above her.

"HOLY CRAP! ARE YOU INSANE?" Oh great. She'd know that annoying voice anywhere.

Buttercup looked up to find Butch on one of the high branches. Only his legs held him up as he dangled upside down looking extremely frazzled. How the skinny branch was even holding him was a mystery in itself.

'Never mind.'

With a sharp crack the branch gave way, the raven teen falling a few feet before catching himself. He hovered there for a moment shaking off a few stray leaves. His backpack fell down then, landing squarely on his head before popping open and spilling everywhere.

"Aww fuck!" Butch cursed, snatching the bag off his head. Swearing like a sailor, he zipped around, gathering up all his things. "Damn it! Will you stop laughing?"

Buttercup just cracked up even more, clutching her side as she watched the idiot scramble around. Sure she hated his guts but that didn't mean she couldn't laugh at his expense. It didn't exactly help that he still had twigs and leaves sticking out of his hair.

Her laughter stopped abruptly as she turned to glare at him. "Hey jackass, what the Hell were you doing up there anyway? You spying on us or something?"

"Why would I spy on you?" Butch continued gathering his things, not even sparing her a glance. "Besides it's not spying since I was here first."

"It is when you decide to hang around like some creepy stalker!"

"Hey! I was gonna leave, then you guys started talking shit about me!"

"It's not talking shit if it's true."

"Hey, I resent that! I am NOT a pervert!"

"Yah you are. And do you even know what resent means?"

"Ok, ignoring that last comment…Only for you and that nice ass."

Buttercup gave him the mother of all glares then. He stared back with a straight face looking almost bored, possibly amused. It pissed her off that he seemed unaffected, made her want to wipe that smug look off.

'We'll see how smug you are after this.' she smiled sweetly at him as she reached out to grab the branch beside her.

He flinched noticeably, looking confused by the sudden mood swing. She couldn't help but laugh at the look of shock that spread across his face when she shook the branch, dislodging the small bee hive connected to it. The best part was that he never even noticed it was there until the hive landed on his shoulder and began swarming around him.

"AHH!" He squawked, batting the buzzing hive off, swatting wildly at the little insects.

Buttercups didn't get the chance to laugh this time as Butch dived straight at her, crashing through branches on his way down. Scooping up her bag, she dropped backwards off the branch. "Don't come by me, you psycho!"

She hit the ground running as she tore off into the woods, intent on getting away from the stupid Ruff and the bees attacking him. Buttercup wasn't even sure where she was running but if it got her away from him then all the better.

Trees blurred by in waves of green and brown as she raced on, jumping, tumbling, and sliding through the dense forest. She wasn't sure how far she had gone but she refused to slow her pace until she could no longer hear Butch's shouts.

Even after Buttercup was certain that she had left the Ruff far behind she ran. Enjoying the feel of the wind as it caressed her face, sliding through her hair, wrapping around her.

•••***•••

'What a work out.'

Breathing harder than usual, Buttercup paused to catch her breath. Leaning against a tree, she slung her bag over both shoulders. After waiting a moment for her breathing to return to normal, Buttercup decided to take a look around.

'Where am I?' She must have run farther than she thought. This place was entirely unfamiliar. The trees were taller than the ones in more populated areas and the foliage on the ground grew thick. Which meant she was pretty deep in the woods.

Being in the woods normally didn't matter but something didn't seem quite right. It was just too quiet to be natural. There were no animals around. Even with superhearing, Buttercup couldn't hear anything. Not one bird, not even the pitter patter of small rodents.

It was during moments like this that all her paranoid sisters training really came in handy. Tightening the bag straps, she made sure there was nothing on her that could easily fall off or snag on anything. Probably not the best day to wear baggy pants.

Knowing better than to randomly start flying about, Buttercup began climbing one of the many trees in a regular human fashion. Once at the top, she scanned the area for any landmarks she could use to tell her position.

'Hmm… trees, trees, trees… where's the mountain? Trees…' Just as Buttercup was about to shout her frustration, she spotted the towering peaks far in the distance. 'There it is! Wow… I got pretty far away, probably about… ah, not that bad, just a few hundred miles.'

She had seemingly wandered into Sector F. An area west of the town, just outside of Bubbles' usual patrol range.

Preparing for her decent from the treetops, Buttercup grasped onto the thickest branches she could find. Pulling her shoes from the gap she had wedged them in she shifted lower, a ray of light catching her eye in the process. Momentarily blinded, Buttercup raised a hand to her forehead to block the suns glare.

'Wait a minute…' even with her hand blocking out the fiery orb the light refused to dim. It was then that the green Puff realized that the light wasn't coming from the sun. In fact, it seemed to be coming from the ground.

Moving just enough so as not to be blinded, she stared off into the distance, attempting to find the source. After several fruitless moments, Buttercup's emerald orbs zeroed in on a patch of trees that just didn't seem quite right.

Then she saw it, about nine feet below the tree tops, camouflaged by creepers and vines was what looked to be a two story warehouse. The building was made in a way that allowed plants to literally grow in the walls. There were even a couple of small pine trees growing on the roof. Now that she knew it was there she wondered how she could have possibly missed something so big.

Once back on the ground, Buttercup slowly made her way to the building, sticking close to the grasses and trees. Her love of green camouflage prints really helped right then, allowing her to blend in.

Lying flat on the ground she crawled beneath a bush a few feet from the building. Buttercup stayed that way for what seemed like forever just waiting for something to happen. During this time she scanned the building for any signs of life.

For all the world it seemed to be old and abandoned with cracked windows, crumbling walls, there were even a few holes big enough to fit through. A closer inspection with her x-ray vision told a different story though. There was a good twenty or so, humanoid heat signatures within and five that looked to be animals. Probably K-9, judging by the general shape.

Once Buttercup was absolutely sure there was nothing on the outside that could alert them to her presence, she dashed to the outer walls. Pressing her body flat against the wall, she inched along the edge until she was directly below one of the windows. Jumping slightly, she grasped the ledge, hoisting herself up just enough to see inside.

"Holy crap…" Whispering breathlessly, Buttercup looked over the building. Huge shipping containers lined the right and rear walls in rows. To the left were gigantic machines with conveyer belts. At each machine were heavily clothed workers, tinkering with either the machines themselves or the smaller things coming out of them. She was a little too far the see what they were building but whatever it was probably wasn't good.

Slinking around the side of the building like a cat, Buttercup found a crack in the wall and slipped through it. Making sure to be as quiet as possible, she climbed onto one of the shipping containers.

Green orbs glowed ominously as she crept through the shadows, silent as a ghost. No one noticed her as she inched her way closer to the machines. Once close enough Buttercup had no doubt as to what they were making.

"Looks like a weapons factory." A deep throaty voice whispered in her ear, hot breath ghosting over her neck making the flesh tingle.

It took everything she had to choke back the scream threatening to erupt from her throat, head snapping around so fast she nearly got whiplash. Buttercups emerald eyes practically bugged out of their sockets as her face smashed into the person beside her.

Body frozen in shock, she remained stalk still, staring back into a pair of equally surprised, near identical forest green orbs. It took her a full minute to realize what had happened and just who she was looking at. Blinking a few times, her eyes narrowed as she jerked backwards.

"Butch! What the fuck is wrong with you!" Buttercup whisper-shouted, rubbing profusely at her lips, trying desperately to remove the vile taste.

The Ruff in question simply stared back at her blinking dumbly. One hand reached for his face as he ran a finger over his rapidly swelling bottom lip. It hadn't really hurt, but did she have to turn that fast? The surprised look on his face vanished, replaced by a smug expression, the corner of his mouth twitching up as he smirked at her. "If I knew you would react like that I would have tried surprising you sooner."

"What the fuck are you doing here dumb ass!" Eyes narrowed threateningly, she hissed at him. "What in the seven Hells would posses you to follow me here?"

"Not like there anything better to do. Besides, I needed to pay you back for the bee hive you dropped on my head earlier." Butch muttered, keeping his voice low while shrugging uncaringly.

"Your not supposed to be here! Get out now!"

"Why should I?"

"Because! Now, GET OUT!"

"And if I refuse?"

"I'm gonna introduce my fist to your face!" she smacked her fist against her hand lightly for emphasis.

"Go ahead." Butch taunted, folding his arms over his chest. "See how fast they find us here when you do."

'Fuck!' he was right. If she hit him it would give away their position. There was no way she could do so without causing a commotion.

"Now, ya mind telln me what were doin spying on a bunch a weapon dealers?" Slipping back into that stupid annoying slang, Butch peeked over the edge of the shipping container they were hiding behind.

"It's an uncharted factory." Though irritated with his presence, Buttercup knew she wouldn't be able to get rid of him at the moment and decided to let it slide this once. Hopefully if he knew what was going on he might just stay quiet. "Their not supposed to be here."

"Since when is ANY weapons factory 'supposed to be here'?" Rolling his eyes at her he scoffed quietly. "Their never supposed to be anywhere cause ninety percent of the time their always illegal."

"Really? I never knew that." Buttercup replied sarcastically, smacking him over the head. "That's why I'm trying to find out what type of weapons their making."

"Well they look kinda like machine guns." Butch whispered. "They aren't like any I've ever seen though."

"That's cause they aren't machine guns. Their called Meteor Shower's." Buttercup muttered a string of curses then. "Those things were outlawed on earth three years ago."

"On earth?" Butch turned to look at Buttercup like she had grown a second head. "What do you mean by outlawed 'On Earth' ?"

'Crap!' she hadn't meant to say that out loud! Trying to come up with a reasonable explanation she almost didn't notice the workers pause to look around. Not good, they would definitely spot the greens in their cameo print clothes. It may have helped outside but in here, on top of the colorful shipping crates, they stuck out like a couple of sore thumbs.

Panic made her throw caution to the wind as she threw herself at Butch, tackling him behind the crates. Her hand flew out, covering his mouth before he could make a sound. The two landed in a heap with a soft thump, Butch sprawled out on his back looking like he'd just been doused in ice water while Buttercup lay over him not daring to move.

Using her free hand she motioned for him to stay quiet. He seemed to understand as he finally stopped squirming beneath her. Listening intently, she picked up a soft snapping sound ahead of her. Shifting lower, Buttercup lay herself flat over the Ruff not even caring about how weird it was.

Just in time too. The second she did so an orange suited figure walked past not more than four feet from them. Neither teen moved an inch until the person moved away, walking around the corner of another crate.

Butch tensed beneath her then. Buttercup tossed a questioning glance at the boy. His eyes were wide in surprise, a look of panic hidden just beneath the surface. His hand shot out, grabbing her chin roughly and forcing it to the left.

'Crap!'

Standing less than a foot away, snarling viciously was the most disgusting creature either teen had ever laid eyes on. It stood on four legs, had the general body shape, and structure of a dog but that was as far as the similarities went.

Reptilian hide stretched over it's skeletal frame like brittle elastic, every bone protruding against the translucent flesh, pulsing blue veins throbbed just beneath the surface like wriggling worms. Organs bulged against the skin, twitching, quivering.

Long spiraled horns tore from it's skull, the slimy glistening flesh, stretched over it like tissue paper. Lipless gums strained over serrated fangs, globs of spit dribbling between ivory teeth. Blood red light shone from deep within gouged eye sockets, boring into them.

It shifted, one leg stretching towards them, skin so tight it looked ready to tear at any second, talons clicking. Jaws fell open, it's strangled blue tongue rolling out, rivulets of sickening green froth poured from it's mouth, melting the concrete floor with a loud hiss. It's breath crept over the teens like putrid, decaying meat as it growled at them, sounding like nails over a chalkboard.

Buttercup had never felt so disgusted in her life. All the zombie movies in the world couldn't prepare her for this. That CREATURE didn't look like it should even be alive, a breathing corpse that even HIM would be revolted by.

'Move! Move damn it!' her body wouldn't listen to her as she stayed frozen against Butch. Her blood felt like ice in her veins, the urge to vomit growing the longer she looked at the hideous monstrosity.

With a nasty squelching sound it lunged at them, fangs snapping like bear traps. The thing was close enough that Buttercup could count every one of it's taste buds, see every speck of plaque on it's teeth.

Everything slowed down then, the beasts falling form descending at a snails pace as it's fangs closed around her face. Buttercup could feel the muscles in her body clench, preparing for the inevitable.

Something jerked beneath her and suddenly she was moving, the monsters fangs clamping down less than a hairs width away, it's breath puffing noxiously into her face. Buttercup watched as the thing landed with a resounding crunch, the ground fracturing beneath what she had presumed to be a light body.

Brain too sluggish to truly process what was happening, Buttercup just blinked, watching as the thing rapidly grew smaller. A pair of legs crossed into her vision before being drowned out by the thick green fabric that came up to smother her face.

Pushing it away, Buttercup was surprised by the feel of muscle beneath it before finally realizing where she was. If anyone had told her that she would be within a mile of Butch willingly she would have laughed in their face before beating them over the head with their own hand. Yet that was now exactly where she was, thrown over the Ruffs shoulder like a sack of potatoes and she was nowhere near complaining. Heck she was actually grateful to the guy, shocking right, maybe she should check in on HIM and make sure Hell wasn't a frozen wasteland.

A loud screech echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls as the thing charged after them, catching up in moments, snapping at Butch's ankles. Four additional screams sounded around the room in a blood curdling symphony, echoing closer by the second.

This finally seemed to snap her out of the daze. With a burst of adrenaline, Buttercup forced her way out of Butch's hold. Grabbing his hand they blitzed through the maze of shipping crates. Golden tendrils of sunlight sparkled through the hole in the wall. Without a second thought, she slipped through, only to be yanked back.

'No, NO!' Emerald orbs flashed in horror as she looked back. Not one, but five of the creatures were barreling around the corner, mere feet away. And Butch… Butch was stuck in the gap, his broad chest wedging him in place.

"UGH! COME, ON YOU BASTARD! GET OUT!" Screaming in frustration, Buttercup slammed her foot against the wall and tugged Butch through the hole.

Before she could even hit the ground she was pulled to her feet as the green Ruff dashed into the forest not once letting go of her hand.

'Wait, WAIT! WERE GOING THE WRONG WAY!' grabbing the trunk of a tree she pulled against the other teens grip forcing him to change direction. He didn't even seem to notice though as he kept on running, plowing through the brush like a bulldozer.

Even after the teens could no longer hear the sickening sounds of the creatures they continued, running until their breath came in ragged gasps.

The trees became fewer, more spaced out as they got closer to the town. Adrenaline finally running out, Buttercup allowed herself to fall, collapsing onto her knees. Less than a second later Butch dropped down beside her. Both looked like they had run a marathon as they sat, gasping for oxygen.

After catching her breath, Buttercup stood back up towing the exhausted Butch behind her. Her feet felt like lead weights as she trudged along. After what seemed like hours she finally found what she was looking for.

The bleached white walls of the school stood proudly less than a hundred feet away. Not even caring who saw them, Buttercup made a bee line through the courtyard straight for the parking lot. The bright green and chrome of her motorcycle never looked quite as amazing as it did just then.

Sitting on the bike she relinquished her hold on his hand to fish her keys out of her pocket. The familiar sound of the engine roared to life as she looked back at the other teen standing awkwardly beside her.

"Well. You commin or not?" Blinking once he grinned, then without any sign of hesitation, Butch sat down behind her, hands on her shoulders.

Rolling forward, she gunned the engine, flying out of the parking lot and down the winding road.

•••***•••

It didn't take long before the creamy white walls of her house came into sight.

'Did the place always look this welcoming?'

Parking the bike in the ground level garage, Buttercup walked into the house, Butch trailing behind her like a lost puppy. She could tell the boy was looking around but didn't really care as she breezed through the kitchen and into the hallway. Stopping in front of the basement door she pressed her hand against the wall, sliding open the hidden panel.

After scanning her hand the steel door slid open revealing the familiar old staircase. Hopping down two steps at a time she paused at the bottom waiting for Butch whom was gaping at the living room. She couldn't really blame him though. That was the same reaction everyone had the first time they saw the Puffs actual house instead of the upstairs area they never used. Now wasn't the time for that though.

Grabbing his arm she towed him off down the hallway, winding through the familiar corridors. Only pausing long enough for the door to open, Buttercup tugged Butch straight inside towards her redheaded sister at the far end of the room.

"Bloss, we got a problem." Buttercup didn't even have to finish her sentence before her sister sprang up from her seat, laptop completely forgotten.

Soft cold fingers brushed over the green Puff as Blossom hovered around her, fussing like a mother hen. After giving Buttercup a once over she switched her attention to Butch. Once that was done, Blossom hurried off collecting things from around the room.

Already knowing what would happen next, Buttercup made her way over to one of the examination tables beside the wall.

"Now. You want to tell me what happened after you left for school earlier? You've only been gone for three hours." Blossom said, placing the many different ointments and gauze wraps onto the table.

'What? Only three hours?' Sighing in exasperation she looked up at her sister with tired green eyes.

"Where to start…"

•••000•••

You guys wanted the other girls, well here's Buttercup!

I just realized how much I favor my characters in my stories… I feel sort of bad…I seem to center around Blossom most of the time even though I want to use all of them. I just reread my story and I realized that Bubbles hardly showed up at all. I have to start using her more… I'm just not quite sure how yet.

Anyway. I hope you like the chapter, I tried centering around the greens as much as possible this time. So all you green fans please tell me how I did cause frankly I don't think I did that well…

And I'm sorry for taking so long again, I finally got back from my trip to Vegas (which sucked by the way) and now I'm sick from the water up there. Ain't live just peachy?

Also I'd just like to thank Aeternus Rosa and cookies for the latest reviews on my other story. Fear not, I haven't forgotten about it, I just have an extreme case of writers block that totally bitch slapped me in the face… so after rereading the entirety of it I got to thinking. And I've decided that I would be rewriting that story as well, I was absolutely appalled by what I wrote, I can't believe I had ever thought of it as anything near good… I found so many grammar mistakes and it seems so very rushed, like I wrote it just to write it, now that I look back there docent seem to be any real effort and I simply won't stand for that. I must redo it and that is exactly what I will be doing the first chance I get.

Please leave a review. Thank you! ^_^ 


	10. PR10:

PR 10:

Disclaimer: I do not own Powerpuff Girls or any associated characters.

•••000•••

"Oww! What is that stuff? It burns!"

"Oh, quit being such a baby. It's just peroxide."

Cold, delicate, fingers brushed against his chest making him shiver. Even being superhuman didn't make them indestructible, and that medicine hurt!

Taking deep breaths, Butch tried to calm himself, looking around as a distraction. Buttercup, who was now sitting beside him, had dragged him into what looked like a small hospital room.

There were about three operation tables, one of which they were sitting on, to the right hand side of the room. The rest seemed to be made up of tables, desks, and cabinets. Normally he wouldn't think much of it but the place was beyond high tech. Butch couldn't even begin to guess what half the things were. 'Boomer would be having a field day in here.'

The room could have passed for the set of one of those space movies. The tables were built into the walls, obviously retractable, and even had their own x ray machines. It could probably do a lot of other things too if the panels built into the side was anything to go by. The glass cabinets along the walls seemed to hold some pretty high tech equipment as well. The tables to the left was rather cluttered compared to the rest though. He couldn't even tell what the actual tables looked like. The surprising part was that it wasn't actually messy, so much as it was full.

"So where exactly was this place?" Though her eyes remained solely on him, Butch knew Blossom was talking to Buttercup alone.

"I'm not sure how exact I got it, but it's about two miles out of Bubbles's patrol line, in sector F." Buttercup replied, absently playing with a bandage on her hand. "A little under eighty miles from town."

"I see…and what did you find?" Magenta orbs flicked between Butch and Buttercup, gently prying for answers. "I can't help if I don't know what's going on."

Buttercup twitched slightly, eyes growing cold. Butch couldn't really blame her. The memory of that thing they had encountered was something he would much rather forget. It wasn't that he was actually scared of it, Hell no! He was Butch, the toughest of the Ruffs! He never got scared, not of those stupid mangy dog things, with their nasty skin and visible veins, or that horrible way their eye sockets glowed at you and made your legs go stiff…made your blood feel like ice. No! He wasn't the least bit scared, not of those things, not of needles like the one in Blossoms hand, not of ANYTHING!

'Wait! Needle? Holy crap, she's getting a little close with that thing. Why is she getting closer? She better not be doing what I think she's doing.'

Blossom eyed the green Ruff warily, he was staring at her in a way that one might upon crossing paths with a particularly venomous snake. He flinched away as she reached up, his muscles visibly tense. Sliding up Buttercup's shirt sleeve, she gave her sister an antibiotic to counter any sort of bacteria she may have come across in the building. From what Buttercup described of the creature she had seen, Blossom was pretty sure she knew what it was. Their were only two different K-9 species that matched the description and both carried some pretty nasty bacteria in their mouths.

Sighing lightly, Blossom put the needle away and fished out a bottle from one of the many cabinets. Dumping a few pills out, she handed them to Butch. "Swallow them, don't chew."

"What? I'm not takin that."

"Would you prefer I give you a shot?" As soon as the last word left her mouth the three small pills were gone. 'He really docent like shots huh?'

Walking around the room, Blossom put away the few items she had taken out as Buttercup continued her story. No matter what way you put it, things weren't looking good. To think that they had set up a base practically under her nose and she hadn't found it until now. Heck, SHE hadn't even been the one to find it, her sister and the untrained Ruff had stumbled upon it by chance. Judging by the recount, they had been there for at least several months on top of that, adding insult to injury.

Contemplating what course of action to take, Blossom began pacing back and forth in front of the table, absorbing all the information Buttercup provided. To have hidden themselves in such a way meant they were trying to be inconspicuous, which was what they all did. Normally it wouldn't be all that much of a worry but considering the security precaution and measures that had taken meant it wasn't something she could just brush off.

The second the words 'Weapon' and 'Meteor Shower' came out of the teens mouth had Blossom stumbling over her own two feet though. That was not good, not good at all. Those weapons were outlawed for a reason and if her suspicions were correct, the presence of that warehouse was only the beginning.

Rushing over to her laptop, Blossom quickly saved her previous documents and closed them. Pulling up several other files she motioned Buttercup to come over. "Is this what you saw?"

Suppressing a shudder, Buttercup nodded. "Yah. It was the one on the left. There were five of em."

Buttercup could faintly hear her sister cursing under her breath from her position beside her. That wasn't a good sign. Blossom never cursed unless she was really mad. The redhead began swiping at the things on her desk then, haphazardly shoving them away. She began murmuring something about 'Hell Hound's and 'Basilisks' before snatching up her laptop and rushing out the door.

"Buttercup, I want you to stay home until I get back ok." Blossom said popping into the doorway a second later. "When Bubbles gets back from her date, tell her I'm out taking care of the birds."

"Sure thing." Comprehension flooded the raven haired girl then. She knew exactly what was going on now. "Wait! Bloss, what about-!"

"Butch, you stay here with Buttercup for now." Blossom answered, turning to the boy before Buttercup could finish her question. "Mojo's coming over later for the simulation with your brothers anyway."

"Okay…" Butch didn't really get what was going on but if it got him out of school then he couldn't really complain. Spending time with Buttercup was just another bonus.

"Until then, do not to leave the house OR get into trouble." Directing the last part at Butch, Blossom turned back to her sister. "I'll try to get back as soon as I can but for now, why don't you show Butch around. Try not to break anything and PLEASE don't kill each other while I'm gone."

"Where to first?" Butch grinned, looking expectantly at Buttercup after Blossom disappeared around the corner.

Buttercup just stared at the spot her sister had previously occupied with a mixture of shock and anger on her face.

•••***•••

'Damn. I knew this place was big… but this is freaking ridiculous.' Like a tourist on vacation, he ran around looking in every room and at every speck of furniture.

After seeing the living room alone, he was ready to ditch the monkey and beg the girls to let him stay. Their home was amazing. To think, just that morning, he was dreading to come, now they'd probably have to drag him out like a temperamental two year old; kicking and screaming.

"Dude! I swear, if you break ANYTHING I'll kick your ass so hard your grandkids'll be feeling it!"

"Chill, Butterbabe. I ain't even touchin nothin."

"Remind me to kill Blossom when she gets back." Grumbling under her breath, Buttercup continued to follow the idiot Ruff around. 'I can't BELIEVE she made me baby sit this dumb ass!'

So far the two teens had been through the garage, which Buttercup literally had to drag Butch out of. The robotics room ("The fuck? Why didn't you tell me you've already been through here?" Buttercup smacked him over the top of his head. "Could have saved us half an hour you prick!"), the small infirmary, the kitchen, and they were now back to the living room. There was a lot more around but other than the simulator, the back rooms weren't something Butch should know about yet. Luckily he didn't ask questions, he was far too preoccupied with looking around.

If he had thought the garage was big then this room was even bigger. The living room was a long rectangular shape. To the right, beside the staircase was a huge tv setup that obviously belonged to Buttercup. Butch couldn't help himself when he caught sight of her collection of video games, picking his way through them. Luckily Buttercup didn't seem to mind, lazily tossing herself onto the couch.

After digging through all her games, Butch decided to look around the room a little more. When he actually stopped to look, the room was even more amazing. Because of how big it was there were quite a few beams and each one was carved into different animal shapes. Most of them seemed to be of dragons or other mythical beasts and quite frankly, they looked ready to jump out at him. On the opposite side of the staircase was a door leading to the kitchen. The back wall was lined with cherry red bookshelves that, oddly enough, didn't clash with the neon green of the sofas. This was probably thanks to the bleached white carpeting. No wonder Buttercup had yelled at him about his shoes.

In the center of the room was a coffee table surrounded by several multicolored beanbag chairs. They looked quite comfortable and Butch promptly plopped down onto one just because he could. A few feet away from that was a small rectangular glass table beside a blood red recliner, probably Blossom's. A large green book lay on the cushion, a book mark sticking out of the top. The bookshelf around the chair, surprisingly enough, held not books, but glass figurines. He would have to take a closer look later. The neon blue at the far end of the room was a bit more interesting at the moment.

Crystal clear panels of glass stood between the pillars creating a near invisible wall. On the other side a large tv, a little smaller than the one by Buttercup, was mounted on the wall. Six foot speakers stood on either side of it.

Probably looking like a retarded gecko, Butch inched his way across the glass, feeling for the section that would open. It took him a good three minutes ("What's wrong? You blind too?" Buttercup laughed, taunting him from the comfort of her couch cushions.)before he finally found the panel that would open.

Sliding open the glass door, Butch looked around a little more. It seemed that this side of the room was set up with surround systems. Not only were there speakers beside the tv but also mounted on the walls and beside the neon blue sofas at the far end. There was no carpet on this side, instead the floor was covered in milk white tile. The left wall, directly across from the staircase, was lined with spiraled shelves behind glass doors. It only took Butch a minute to realize that they were all CDs.

"Bubbles's music collection. Don't matter what your looking for, as long as the song made it to a CD it's gonna be in there." Butch nearly jumped as Buttercup appeared beside him like a ghost. "Actually, I take that back, as long as it's been recorded it should be there. A lot of this craps been converted to CDs."

'How did she do that? I didn't even notice she moved.'

"Now. Do I still have to play tour guide or do ya wanna help me raid the kitchen?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Bitch grinned, the prospect of food overriding all previous thoughts.

"Not my fault your in Lala Land."

"Race ya to the kitchen?"

"Nah, there's too much stuff you could break around here, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have to listen to Blossom nag about broken shit."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Butch huffed in irritation. A second later he zipped off into the kitchen, a dark green trail the only evidence he had been there.

"That little-! Ugh!" Buttercup grumbled, dashing off after him, hopping he hadn't already broken something. She really didn't want to hear another lecture. "Hey dumb ass! What did I just say!"

He payed no attention to her, too busy scouring the kitchen cabinets for junk food.

"You got any Doritos around here?"

"Nope, ate those yesterday."

"Cheetos?"

"Last week."

"Pizza pockets?"

"Ugh… no, I ate those on Monday."

"Fuck! Do you have ANYTHING with deep fried cheese?" Butch pulled at his hair, giving the green Puff a look that clearly showed how he felt about the lack of snacks.

"Not really, Mitch was over last night and pretty much wiped out anything cheese related." Buttercup hopped up and sat on the counter, swinging her legs back and forth. She glanced at the large freezer and pointed at it. "We probably have some Mozzarella sticks in there but that's supposed to be for dinner…"

"Fine! What DO you have around here?" Butch grumbled opening an apple patterned cookie jar. "Ooh, chocolate chip."

"I wouldn't touch those…"

Buttercup watched as Butch ignored her and took a bite out of the cookie only to spit it out a second later. He dropped the rest as if it were diseased, running to the sink and spitting out whatever was left and rinsing his mouth.

"Holy crap, what WAS that!" Butch gagged, wiping at his tongue. "I've barfed up shit that tasted better than that!"

Buttercup snorted clutching her gut and covering her mouth as she tried not to laugh outright. Rolling onto her back with the effort she turned to lean on the refrigerator one foot up on the counter and the other dangling off the edge as she finally gave in.

"B-b-blu- ahahaha! Oh- oh, man! You should h-have seen y-your face!" Buttercup gasped, kicking the counter.

"Seriously, I've eaten expired junk that's better than whatever that was!" Butch exclaimed, he pointed a finger at the jar then. "I don't know what that is, but there's no way in Hell that was a cookie or even edible for that matter."

This started up a whole nother round of snorts and howls of laughter from the Puff. She continued to laugh even as she fell off the counter landing on the tiles with a loud thump. It took her a little while but she finally calmed enough to gulp down some air.

"What the fuck is so funny?" Butch snapped, getting irritated fast.

"I t-told you n-not to eat t-those." Buttercup snorted, sucking in deep breaths to calm herself.

Butch just glared, gritting his teeth. He couldn't exactly argue with that. He HAD heard her tell him not to, he just hadn't listened, thinking she just didn't want him to eat them.

"Maybe now you'll actually listen when I say something." Buttercup grinned, getting up she walked over to close the cookie jar, but not before grabbing one out and waiving it at Butch mockingly. "Or I could always just force one of these down your throat."

"What is that shit anyway." Butch backed away, eyeing the not-cookie as if it would jump at him.

"Blossom's attempt at baking." Buttercup smirked.

"Huh? Could you repeat that? I think I got something in my ear." Butch promptly stuck a finger into one of his ears, twisting it around before pulling it back out. "I could have sworn you just said your sister made that."

"I did. Blossom made those." Buttercup tossed the cookie in her hand into the sink, turning to one of the cabinets and fishing out a bag of potato chips before searching for a bowl. "For all the amazing crap she can do the girl is absolutely useless in the kitchen. Though it is nice to know that we can still beat her at something."

"You expect me to believe that your sister- tall pale and sexy- made THAT." Butch pointed at the remains of the cookie as he washed it down the drain. "I didn't think I could possibly eat something worse than the time my bros dared me to eat that whatever-it-was they mixed up out of junk they found sitting around."

"Well, if you don't believe me you could always try something else she baked." Buttercup grinned slyly. "I'm pretty sure she made a pie last Tuesday."

"No thanks." Butch smiled sarcastically. "I like my stomach where it is, and I don't feel like ripping my tongue off, I need it for the next time I get a girlfriend."

"Ew. I did not need that mental image." Buttercup mock gagged, pouring the chips into the bowl. "Now hurry up so I can whip your ass at video games."

"Hah! Not in this lifetime!" Butch snatched the bowl away, running off into the living room to search through the games.

•••***•••

"Ha! I got ya!"

"Well that brings your score up to three v.s. one hundred ninety four."

"I still say your cheating somehow." Muttering under his breath, Butch crossed his arms over his chest.

"I can still hear you stupid." Lying along the sofa, Buttercup tossed aside her game controller in favor of the potato chip bowl. "And I didn't cheat, you just royally suck."

Scowling at the green eyed Puff, Butch snatched away the chip in her hand crunching it loudly.

"Hey! That was mine you ass!" Spinning around, she swatted at Butch. He jumped away just in time to avoid her, taking the chip bowl along with him. "Give that back."

"No. You cheated on that last round and you know it."

"I did not cheat."

"Yah you did."

"How could I possibly cheat when your characters already got a handicap and five extra lives? Admit it dude! You. Just. Suck. Now give me back my chips before someone gets hurt."

"I did not have a handicap and I'm not givin em back till you admit you cheat. Theres no way you could move that fast without some type of cheat."

'Ok. Thats it!' growling in irritation, Buttercup tackled Butch over the edge of the couch, snatching the chip bowl away. 'Nobody messes with my food!'

Before she could get up he grabbed her, the two wrestling over the carpet, Buttercup trying not to spill her chips while simultaneously fighting back. After a while Butch managed to pin her beneath him, she was far too busy trying to save her precious snack.

Cough cough.

The two teens froze, turning slowly. Standing a few feet away, face turned away, was a flushed Bubbles. Next to her was Mitch, grinning like the pervert he was.

"Are we interrupting something?" Mitch practically snorted out before laughing as Buttercup and Butch looked back at each other.

Now that she thought about it they were in a pretty compromising position. Buttercup was on her back, knee raised from trying to kick him, one hand pressed against his face while the other stretched above her to save the chips. Butch in turn was lying over her using one arm to try an hold himself up while the other stretched uselessly at the bowl, his face shoved away by her hand.

Butch finally reached his target then, accidentally knocking the bowl out of Buttercup's grasp. The fried potatoes spilled out over the two teens, covering them.

"Dude! My chips!"

"Great, now I'm covered in salt. Why'd ya have ta steal back the bowl huh?"

"That's your fault for takin it in the first place dumb ass!"

Shoving the green Ruff off of her, Buttercup sat up and began brushing the chips away. "What the hell are you guys doing here anyway?"

"Brendan had to cancel our date." Bubbles answered, walking over to help her sister. "His grandma, Miss Olivia, tripped down the stairs and twisted her ankle so he had to take her to the doctors."

"Miss Olivia… you mean that old hag with the glass eye that lives next to the hardware store?" Buttercup stated pausing to look at her sister. "I didn't know they were related."

"She's not an old hag." Bubbles defended giving Buttercup a stern look. "She's really nice once you get to know her."

"Bubbles, she chased me down the side walk with her broom screaming at me in Spanish. Now, I'm not very good at Spanish but I know a swearing old lady when I see one."

"That's because you skateboarded into her flower patch and squashed all her hydrangeas. She was gonna enter them in a flower contest the next week."

Mitch walked over then, grabbing a chip off of Buttercup's shirt and eating it. "I agree with BC on this one Baby Blue. That lady is CRAZY! I'd say she needs to visit the loony bin except they'd probably kick her out before she could even get through the front gate."

"And that's coming from the resident loon." Buttercup stated.

"Mitch! That's not very nice." Bubbles threw a chip at him, ignoring her sister.

"Hey, you know I don't like sugar coating things." Mitch grumbled back, catching the chip in his mouth like a dog. "An I know I'm weird but you don't gotta make me sound like a retard."

"What ya talkin about? Retard would be a compliment you psycho." Buttercup grinned, tossing more chips for him to catch. "Besides, if I don't insult you who else is gonna keep your over inflated ego in check?"

"My ego is just fine than you." Mitch gave her an offended look, throwing a handful of chips back at her.

"I'd watch out if I were you." Buttercup blocked the barrage of deep fired potatoes. "Too much hot air in that big head of yours and you might float away."

"Awkward." Butch muttered under his breath. He didn't have the slightest idea of who they were talking about, an now he felt out of place. "Wait, isn't it a little early for school to finish?"

"We got let out early today after the fire alarms went berserk." Bubbles replied, pointedly glaring at Mitch, who suddenly found an exceedingly interesting speck on the carpet, before turning to face the raven haired boy. "By the way, what are you doing here Butch?"

"We had a little incident today."

"Blossom's out taking care of the birds. She had the two of us stay here." Dusting off the last of the salt, Buttercup began picking the chips off the carpet. "Were supposed to stay here until she gets back."

"Oh…" Bubbles froze for a moment looking disconnected. "Guess I'd better go clean one of the extra rooms."

"Make that three, Mojo's coming over later remember." Buttercup turned to Mitch then. "You gonna help us with the guys run?"

"Depends on which one their doing." Mitch paused to munch another chip. "There's no way I'm gonna go through another Tri, and I'm definitely not doing another Scarlet."

"Calm down, the hardest one we could possibly do is a Code Blue, their beginners remember."

"Ok, cause that last one you tricked me into was murder. That girl is insane."

"What are you guys talking about?" Butch questioned aloud, irritated that he still had no idea as to what the conversation was about. "And where'd the little blue go?" he added as an afterthought when he noticed that Bubbles had mysteriously vanished.

He was answered by a pair of devilish smirks as the two remaining teens turned to him with a cryptic response of. "Don't worry you'll find out soon enough."

•••***•••

"AAAAHHHHH! BRICK, BUTCH, HELP!"

Faster than lightning a streak of cobalt blitzed around the corner. Skidding past the door frame the young blonde clawed his way into the room on all fours. He didn't even bother to get to his feet as he scrambled towards his brothers, ducking behind them and curling himself around Brick's leg. Five very confused pairs of eyes glanced down at him, their conversation momentarily forgotten.

"SHE'S AFTER ME!" Obviously panicked, Boomer cast a desperate look up at his brothers, silently pleading for help.

"What are you-" Brick's question was cut short as a second flash, this time of aqua blue, dashed into the room nearly colliding with his chest before stopping abruptly.

"Hi Brick, hi Mojo. Nice to see you." Bubbles chirped happily before reaching around the red Ruff. "Boomer come out here already, it's not like I'm gonna bite."

"Yah right! The last time I was near you, you tried to dress me up like a Barbie doll!"

"When will you get over that? We were seven!"

"You made me wear a DRESS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW EMBARRASSING THAT WAS?!"

"You were fine with it till your brothers showed up." mumbling under her breath, Bubbles crossed her arms over her chest pouting. "Why are you staring at me?"

With a shrug Mojo, Mitch, and Buttercup turned back to their previous conversation. They had long since gotten used to Bubbles's odd behavior. The Ruffs on the other hand stared at her for a bit longer.

Brick, creepily enough, had a look on his face that was nearly identical to Blossom when she was irritated. Boomer was staring as if she had grown a second head and Butch was looking much too low for her liking.

"Pervert." Bubbles huffed, sticking her tongue out at the raven haired boy before turning her attention back to his cowering brother.

"Moving on." Brick seemed content to simply ignore the two blues, returning to the conversation as if they were nothing but annoying flies. He didn't even flinch when Bubbles and Boomer began running circles around him.

"Ha! I got ya!" Bubbles chirped happily before dragging the squirming boy out of the room. "Now would you stop acting like a baby. I'm not trying to hurt you, you know."

"I don't wanna wear a dress!" Boomer half shouted half whined as he clawed at the walls like a cat trying to get out of taking a bath.

"Who said anything about a dress?" Bubbles grumbled, tugging the struggling blue through the doorway.

"Shouldn't we be worried?" Butch questioned, never taking his eyes off the pair even as Bubbles dragged Boomer off, kicking and screaming, around the corner.

"You wanna be the sacrifice instead?" Buttercup questioned, glancing over. "I don't know about you but I'd rather him than me."

"Sacrifice?"

"Notice she never denied the dress up part?" Mitch looked the raven dead in the eye. "She only said no dress. Besides it's his fault for disappearing in the first place."

'Ouch… it was nice knowing ya bro.' Butch thought, turning back to the conversation at hand, ignoring his brothers cries for help.

To be honest it was the blondes own fault. Soon after Bubbles and Mitch had shown up, Mojo and his brothers had arrived. Since they weren't scheduled to start that simulation thing for a while, Buttercup had decided to let them roam around for a bit. Brick had opted to stay with Mojo and look at the computers. Boomer on the other hand had wandered off and was obviously found by the overly enthusiastic Bubbles.

"Alright, we should probably get started soon." snapping out of his thoughts, Butch looked back at the monkey he was to call father. "You should all get ready. I checked the computer set up and it seems the course you will be in is a bit more difficult than I first expected."

"How difficult?" Mitch questioned, eyeing the shorter monkey wearily. "If it's anything near the red codes I'm out. O-U-T. I wouldn't go through another one of those for all the pixie sticks in the world."

"That reminds me, I've been meaning to ask." Butch placed a hand on Mitch's shoulder. "What is with you and pixie sticks? Every time I turn around you're either eating one or got one hiding somewhere."

"I've got a high metabolism." Mitch shrugged nonchalantly "I burn off energy quick so I eat a lot of sugar otherwise I get tired fast."

"Well that's the understatement of the century." Buttercup said, walking over to the door. "The guy nearly passed out once just because he missed breakfast." pausing in the door way she turned back to look at Mojo. "By the way, what was the code?"

"Forest green, surprisingly enough, level one."

"Well that's not so bad." Redirecting her attention to the brunet, Buttercup gave him a smug look. "You still chickening out?"

"No. Besides I'd rather be a chicken than suicidal." Mitch grumbled before following her to the door, Butch tagging along as well. "Greens not so bad. It's just the red that's a pain in the ass. Sorry, no offense intended." He quickly added the last part upon noticing the dark glare Brick sent his way.

"Good. Then you wouldn't mind finding Bubbles and helping the guys find an outfit." Without waiting for a response Buttercup dashed off down the hall. "See ya in a few."

"Huh? Hey, wait!" a look of utter despair washed over Mitch as the green Puff disappeared around the corner. "Aww man…"

"You act like we just got put on death row or something." Brick grumbled, following the teens out.

"Close enough…" Mojo chuckled, watching the teens until the door closed before turning back to the computers on the wall. 'Hopefully Brick docent cause too much of a fuss. Boomers probably going to have nightmares though.'

•••***•••

After crossing the winding corridors for a while, Mitch paused in front of a large, blue, metal door. Knocking once he placed his hand on the small scanner beside it. With a soft 'woosh' the door slid open and the three teens stepped inside.

The room had a futuristic/retro look to it and was definitely unique to say the least. Pressed against the wall on the right, directly next to the door, was a neon blue desk made up of metal with intricate swirl like designs. To the left was what seemed to be a bookshelf. The outer body was made of the same sleek blue metal as the desk, twisting and turning in a never-ending labyrinth of interconnecting strips. Thin sheets of glass covered the inside of the shelf to protect the books upon it from the metals.

A few feet from there was a large dome like chair that hung from the ceiling. A fuzzy, baby blue cushion sat inside next to a sketch pad. In the far right corner of the room was an enormous, perfectly rounded, aqua blue bed. Thousands of pillows of various shapes and sizes blanketed the surface. Perched at the very top of the pile stood what looked to be a small purple octopus with a top hat. Directly across from the bed, on the left wall, was a plasma screen tv mounted above a stereo system. Next to this was another metal shelf, this time a black color, that could be spun like a carousel. What really attracted attention was the walls though. On every visible surface was overlapping shapes and designs, all in various shades of blue.

In the center of the room hung a chandler of the same metal as the rest of the furniture. What stood out about this was the fact that instead of the usual swirl design, this was shaped to look like a serpentine dragon. Six blue scaled bodies wound together to dangle from the ceiling before arching back upwards. Each gaping maw produced a specially crafted foggy glass flame that lit the area with a pale glow.

On the right, past the desk, was two more metal doors, one of which was open, voices drifting through.

"You know… this actually isn't half bad… I like it."

"Told you it wasn't a dress."

Curiosity getting the better of him, Butch wandered over to the door, Mitch and Brick following close behind. Pausing in the doorway the green Ruff was shocked to see that inside was an even bigger room than the last. Lining the walls were racks upon racks of clothing, the dominant color being blue of course. Every few feet there seemed to be mirrors, the far back wall made of nothing but the reflective surface.

Mitch breezed past the Ruffs making his way into the room and disappearing around a corner that didn't seem to have existed moments before.

"Mitch, hi." Bubbles's cheery voice echoed through the room. "What do you think of Boomers clothes? I just finished."

"Wow. It's really good, and you got just the right balance of blue and black to bring out the blonde in his hair."

Wearily making his way into the room, Butch stepped around the corner to find his brother standing on what looked suspiciously like the platform things he often found in girly, over expensive stores, surrounded by mirrors. Standing a few feet away was Mitch and Bubbles who seemed to be examining the male blonde as he twist and turned, trying to get a better look at himself.

Folding his arms over his chest Butch put on a mock glare. Coughing loudly he watched in amusement as Boomer nearly jumped out of his skin, stumbling over his own feet as he tried to face them.

"B-Brick, Butch, hi! What are you guys doing here?" Boomer stuttered out, grinning nervously.

"The better question is, what are YOU doing?" Brick questioned, the corners of his mouth twitching, obviously trying not to laugh.

Butch had no such problem. Grinning like an idiot, he laughed outright at his younger sibling. His laughter stopped abruptly though as he noticed the way Bubbles was looking at them. It was rather unnerving. He vaguely noticed Mitch nodding his head but didn't quite catch what he said because a second later, Bubbles was moving towards him slowly with a measuring tape that she pulled from who knows where.

"Well… I didn't really have a choice…" Boomer replied, eyeing Bubbles wearily.

"Your turn now!" Bubbles grinned, very creepily he might add, as she crept closer.

"What'r ya talking about?" Butch slurred the words together as he backed away from the girl. There was just something about that smile that didn't sit well with him. "An why are ya lookn at me like that?"

"It's ok Butch." Bubbles cooed sweetly as if she were talking to a frightened animal. "Just hold still."

"Oh shi-!" Butch whirled around, wide eyed, blitzing off towards the door. He managed to get about two feet before landing face first in the carpet. "Let me go!"

"Quit squirming! It'll be over faster if you stop moving so much." Bubbles grumbled, grabbing Butch by the shoulders and standing him upright.

The poor guy never stood a chance. The second Baby Blue laid her eyes on him he was a goner. The measuring tape came out and weather he was ok with it or not he was turned into a living doll.

Mitch chuckled quietly, watching the way Bubbles man handled the much larger boy turning him this way and that. Butch actually yelped in surprise when her hands deftly whacked him on the back of his legs before wrapping the tape around his thigh.

The second she was done she turned to the redhead, smiling brightly even as he glared at her. In a flash of blue she was skipping back towards Mitch, leaving a slightly disheveled Brick in her wake.

"What the heck was that about." Butch looked at the other teens mumbling under his breath. "Never thought I'd be saying this but I feel violated…"

"Well you need clothes for the training session later." Mitch answered, shrugging casually as Bubbles fluttered around him. "Believe me, your gonna be happy to have it later."

"I wasn't too happy about getting measured either but the clothes she made after look pretty good if you ask me." Boomer stated, turning back to the mirror. "I especially like the design on the back."

Mitch nodded in agreement, Bubbles had really gone all out on the clothes she made for the blue boy. She had even patched one of her signature designs on it. The next bunch of clothes wouldn't look anything like that though. It was after all specifically for exercising.

After about an hour and a half of fitting on clothes, Bubbles had managed to create outfits for each teen present. It was a given that most looked exactly the same as the last, black pants and a baggy jacket over shirts of their choice in color.

"Bubbles. You done yet?" a rather impatient Buttercup asked, appearing in the doorway. "Mojo's already got everything set up."

"Alright, alright. We're coming already." Bubbles huffed, looking peeved. "So impatient. Besides, you wanna blame someone blame Mr. Picky over there." she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at Brick, raising her voice to an annoyingly whiney pitch. "This shirts too small, these pants are too tight, I don't like this jacket, do you have a different shade of red? Blah, blah, blah."

Brick shot her an irritated scowl to which Bubbles simply stuck her tongue out childishly.

•••000•••

Oh goodness. I've been writing this same chapter for weeks. Every time I think I got it right I would find some flaw. I finally gave up and decided to just post it. During that time I've been rereading all my past works and I must say that I never realized just how much of my own personality and little quirks I put into my characters. (My friend pointed it out.) For instance, Boomer's nail biting, I do the same thing when I'm nervous. Then we've got Blossom's sleepwalking, Mitch's near ADHD and short attention span, and most obvious is Buttercup's food possession problems amongst other things. My best friend once told me I act like a rabid dog over candy bars and my favorite brand of chips. She's just happy that she's the one exception to all my psychotic quirks. Haha. I love you my friend! Your like a sister to me!

I've also been experiencing some annoying writers block. I know the general idea of what I want to happen but I'm having trouble figuring out what is going to happen between now and then. So I'd like to ask all you readers if you can try to help me with inspiration. I do really well with visuals so pictures would be a big help, wether it's from a comic book or just a really interesting rock. But I'd prefer more scenic pictures if possible cause I'm not very good with describing different climate types since I've only ever seen tropical areas. It comes with living on an island… -_-'

Well anyway. Please leave a review and tell me how I did. Thanks! ^_^ 


	11. PR11:

PR 11:

Disclaimers: I don't own PPG, RRB, or any other characters associated with McCracken's work.

I really do get inspiration from the most random of things. Haha. This time I was watching my little brother while he was playing this video game with a go-cart. My first thought was of how bad ass I can imagine a go-cart or dune buggy to look. The second was that Buttercup would love scarring the shit out of Butch. So most of this chapter is dedicated to all my crazy friends because, yes, girls CAN be insane it just depends on how much insanity we decide to let you know about.

•••000•••

"Hurry up would ya? This place gives me the creeps." Buttercup cringed, purposely shuddering from her spot in the doorway. She made it a point to not step foot into Bubbles' closet. "It's worse than the malls clothing department."

"Hey, I don't see you complaining when I make all your punk or whatever clothing brand that is." Bubbles crossed her arms.

"Ok first, it's not a brand, it's a style." Buttercup mockingly imitated her sister and crossed her arms. "Second, I don't mind it that much. It's when things start getting frilly-" she pointed at a rack filled to the brim with lacy and puffy clothing of all colors to emphasize her point. "then I have a problem."

"You act like it's gonna kill you."

"Yah, she'll die of color exposure." Mitch chuckled, waltzing off towards the door, he paused to give the slightly shorter girl a strange look. "Or choke on the rainbow she tries to barf up."

He immediately ran off, the tail end of his orange shoes disappearing around the frame of the bedroom door.

"When will you let that go!" Buttercup snapped, tearing off after him.

"What was that about?" Boomer glanced at Bubbles who simply shook her head.

"Trust me. You don't wanna know." She sighed. "Well, we better get going before one of them breaks something. Most likely Mitch."

Boomer shrugged, following them out. Brick muttered complaints under his breath the whole way.

"Hey wait up!" Butch called from the back, running out from behind one of the many clothes racks as he tugged his jacket on over his rumpled shirt. "Damn it Blondie! Why are there so many buttons on this thing?"

Bubbles paused, blinking innocently at him, a wide smile on her face. "To annoy you."

"Why you little- oof-" Butch stumbled back clutching his nose. "What the fuck?"

He stepped foreword again only to kick the smooth surface of a mirror. Butch paused, reaching out and rapping his knuckles against the smooth surface.

"This way idiot." Brick called.

"Huh?" Butch spun around, looking in the opposite direction. "These stupid mirrors are confusing…"

•••***•••

"Nice of you all to join us." Mojo sat typing away at the computers, not even bothering to look up. "Now boys, I need you three to put those on again." He raised a furry hand and pointed at a empty corner of the room.

"Those what?" Boomer questioned, searching the walls for anything he might have missed. "Ah-ha!" he cried triumphantly, his fingers pressing into a paneled groove that promptly fell open.

Inside were several sets of those weird band things Blossom had made them wear on that first day. He pulled out a few, handing them off to his brothers before inspecting the one in his hands. It didn't look any different, not special in the least, but he could feel the faint trace of wiring just beneath the surface.

"Why do we still have to wear these?" Butch complained, sliding off his jacket to slip the crossed band over his chest.

"Think of it like one of those computer scanners." Mitch grinned, adjusting a bright orange checkered wristband. His voice dropped to a deep rumble as he curled his fingers like claws at them. "It's always watching you…"

"There's something seriously wrong with you." Brick deadpanned, shifting the slightest bit away from the brunet.

"It's not, what's wrong with him." Buttercup grinned. "The question is, what's right with him."

"Exact- hey!" Mitch scowled as she laughed.

"How come we have to wear these and you don't?" Boomer questioned curiously, wrapping the bands around his upper arms.

"Cause we still don't know what you guys can do." Buttercup stated matter-of-factly.

Ignoring Mitch and his incessant muttering, she walked over to Mojo's side. Facing one of the various screens she waved her hand bringing up a keyboard and began typing away.

"What are you doing now?" Butch walked up behind Buttercup, eyeing the screen in front of her as she hunched over the keys.

"You'll see." was her distracted reply as she continued typing away, pulling up several files only to down size them, all the while clicking in various numbers and letters so fast that the Ruff had difficulties keeping up.

Moments later the screen faded into a grid rotating around a central axis. Lines of various lengths snaked out of the corners of the screen bending and warping into random shapes as they converged on the center. After a few moments he was able to pick out wheels and the general body of a small vehicle spinning in the center. It didn't take long after that for him to figure out that it was a dune buggy, even though it didn't really look like any he had seen before. The body had more of a streamlined shape to it, plus the bars seemed too wide and far apart from the seats, normally dune buggies were more compact.

He was about to question her on this when Boomer popped up on her other side with that creepy, 'techie nerd' as he called it, look on his face. Boomer immediately launched into rambling questions using words Butch didn't even want to think of the meaning for. Something about animatrix and cyber nano's or some shit like that.

What's worse was that Buttercup seemed perfectly at ease during all his questions. Even responding with long explanations about what did this or that as the 3D image slowly came to life. A smaller screen popped up in the corner with a variety of weapon images then, several of which she scrolled over before making selections. Not a second later they appeared on the 3D dune buggy, fitting snuggly into the pockets of space surrounding the seats and body.

"Heavy artillery, don't you think?" Brick commented, eyeing the weapons packed into and around the little vehicle.

"You wish." Mitch smirked, folding his arms behind his head as he leaned agains the back wall. "Be grateful the girls taking it easy this time. You think I got bottomless pockets? She could sneak a whole gun shop through airport security like it was a pack of gum."

"If you all are quite done now, I would like to begin the explanation so we can get this over with." Mojo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Contrary to what you may all believe, I do in fact have important matters to attend to afterwards."

"Alright, alright, I'm done anyway." Buttercup pressed a few buttons and closed the screens before joining Bubbles and Mitch at the back wall.

"Good. Now what you boys will be doing today is a pre-calculated exam. The levels vary depending on the color classifications. The lighter the color the easier it is to follow through." Mojo held up a finger as Brick opened his mouth, silencing anything the teen may have said as he clicked his teeth back shut. "Today it is in the green variation meaning it is of medium difficulty. There will be three standard landscapes which will be chosen by the computer at random based upon any existing data." here Mojo turned back to the screens as random areas of varying climates appeared, some showing snowy wastelands, others tropical paradises, while others still showed caves or steep mountain ranges. "The point of this exercise is to locate an enemy base camp and will test your observation skills. Once you find it you must infiltrate the camp, thereby discovering what their prime objective and purpose is for being there. Once you figure that out you will have to determine what course of action to take to complete the mission."

"Course of action meaning…?" Brick inquired, a bored yet hesitant air about him.

"Don't worry about it." Buttercup confidently crossed her arms, leaning against the door frame. "You leave that to me."

"Who died and made you leader?" Brick sneered at the raven girl.

"Well for one I know more about this than you do." She replied with an air of superiority. "And for two, I'll only take orders from one person and it sure as Hell ain't you."

Brick's gaze darkened, he wanted nothing more than to wipe that look off her face, it was irritating. He was getting seriously fed up with having to deal with all this crap being dished out at him. He was a Rowdyruff for crying out loud, his whole life had been spent doing things on his own, listening to no one but himself. The only person he even minutely followed was Mojo and that was only because he respected the chimp for creating them all those years back and helping them out when they really needed it. But respect only stretched so far before it inevitably waned and he finally snapped.

As it were he was pretty close to snapping and he would have challenged the girl had Mojo not curled his furry finger through one of his belt loops and tugged the boy back. The monkey made a soft crooning sound as he did so, trying to pacify the teen, but obviously reprimanding him at the same time.

"The green Powerpuff will be in charge of deciding the end results, she is more experienced that any of you, plus I believe that it will be a good experience for you to learn that not everything is going to go your way." Mojo eyed all three of his boys. "I have no idea what that ignorant Lobster has been teaching you for the last few years but you are no longer under his care you are under mine."

Not giving them a chance to respond, Mojo turned back to the computer, waving his hands towards the door.

"You are to travel in teams of two." he grumbled, clicking at the computer keys again. "You can choose who on the way there as I am running short on time and do not wish to hear any more squabbling."

"Oh! I choose Boomer!" Bubbles squealed, launching herself at the other blonde.

Boomer yelped at this, jumping back and attempting to hide behind Brick's larger frame. Bubbles was having none of it though. Dashing towards the red she feinted a left before jumping right and causing the other blonde to run right into her. Not missing a beat Bubbles latched herself on to his arm squeezing tight so that he couldn't get away. Boomer gulped, turning an impressive shade of scarlet as she pressed into his side.

"We have some catching up to do." Bubbles chirped, happily dragging him out of the room and down the hall, heedless of any protest he made.

'That little brat…' Mitch silently cursed the girl knowing full well that she had snatched the blonde up so that she wouldn't get pinned with one of his brothers instead. "Hey Bu-"

Mitch cut himself short as he turned to find Buttercup grinning at him mischievously from where she stood elbow resting against her own counterparts shoulder. His eye twitched just the slightest bit while he stood there glowering at his so called friend.

'Evil bitch.'

As if knowing exactly what he had just thought she grinned wider, grabbing Butch by the forearm and leading him out of the room much the same way her sister had just moments before.

"Great~" Brick rolled his eyes, half tempted to stomp his way out. "Let's just get this over with."

"Woo hoo…" Mitch cheered, not bothering to hide his lack of enthusiasm, just low enough that the red wouldn't hear he mumbled irritably. "I so don't get enough credit for this."

Zipping his jacket open Mitch dug through a random pocket. After a few seconds he pulled out a couple of pixie stick packets. Ripping the tops off all of them at once he tilted his head back and poured the mixture of colors into his mouth. Swallowing the sugar powders he grinned and dashed off ahead of the grumpy teen and down the hall.

Following the familiar corridor he ducked into the room and snatched a head set just before it hit the ground. Grinning triumphantly, he slipped it on.

"Pay up." Buttercup shot Bubbles a smug look.

"I really thought he would miss them this time." Bubbles sighed, digging a five dollar bill out of her back pocket.

"I've learned better than to ask." Boomer stated calmly, moving away from the other teens.

Butch just shrugged, he was beginning to grow used to the weird antics, learning fast that it was hopeless to try and make sense of the group. Then again, it's wasn't very hard to get used to their odd ways, he wasn't exactly in any position to talk after all seeing as he was originally made of snails.

The lights began to flicker then, a loud whirling sound echoing through the empty room.

•••***•••

"ARE ALL GIRLS INSANE OR JUST YOU AND YOUR SISTERS?!"

"I AIN'T INSANE! I JUST KNOW HOW TO HAVE FUN!"

"Fun?! YOU CALL THIS FUN? MAYBE IF I WASN'T ABOUT TO BE BLOWN TO BITS! I'D REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOUR DEFINITION OF THE WORD IS CAUSE IT SURE AS HELL AIN'T THE SAME AS MINE!"

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, SCREECH!

"AAAAAHHH! LOOK OUT FOR THE-"

"WILL YOU STOP SCREAMIN IN MY EAR!" dirt and rocks rained down from above, the sound of explosions ringing all around them as Buttercup cut sharply to the left, narrowly missing yet another mine. "Besides I missed it by like, a mile!"

"MILE?! THAT WASNT EVEN AN INCH!" Butch shouted, trying to be heard over the roar of the wind. He clung desperately to the bars surrounding the dune buggy as if his life depended on it, and quite frankly it probably did with a driver like Buttercup. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US BLOWN UP?!"

Fire blazed within the confides of a canyon, ash and dirt rising in thick sheets of grey. Rugged walls vibrated with each blast, pebbles and boulders alike being shaken loose. At the bottom of the steep gorge were the two teens atop a dune buggy of dark green metal seated on a pair of sleek black chairs. Mounted on either side and atop the vehicle were what looked to be extremely advanced gating guns that seemed to be firing none stop as the crazy raven haired driver laughed psychotically.

Every blast of the machine hit their targets as the buried mines exploded in rapid succession. Rocks and bits of metal flew in every direction, some crashing into the raven haired teens hard enough to bruise.

'Why do I always end up with the crazies?' Butch bit his lip so he wouldn't scream, Ruffs don't scream, as his counterpart made another hairpin turn. Not even a second later the ground to his immediate right erupt like a geyser shooting rocks and dirt into his face. It was a good thing he still had that visor thing on, he didn't care what it was called, it kept all the crap Buttercup's driving kicked up out of his eyes. 'Speaking of driving, I am never letting her drive EVER again!'

•••***•••

Slosh, slosh, slosh.

"It just had to be a marsh didn't it?"

"Look on the bright side, at least it's not a swamp."

"Will you stop that! I know your the 'sugar' of the group but do you have to be a 'glass is half full' person? Can't you just let me complain without trying to point out a bright side in this situation THAT HAS NO BRIGHT SIDE!"

"Why do you have to be so pessimistic?"

"Why do you have to be so optimistic?"

"Well it's cause-"

"THAT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION!"

"Geez, no need to be so snippy. You should just be grateful there's nothing biting you."

"…You were saying…"

Turning around, Bubbles giggled softly. Clinging to Boomer's fingers was an odd looking fish. It wriggled back and forth as he shook his hand trying to get it to let go.

"Well at least it's not a snapping turtle." turning around, Bubbles began to walk off again. It was important to get out of the marsh, they were supposed to be in a jungle. "I found one of those last time and let me tell you, it wasn't pre-"

"AAAAHHHHH! GET IT OFF!" Boomer's sudden outburst nearly made Bubbles jump out of her skin.

Whipping around, the blue Puff nearly fell into the swamp water in a fit of laughter. Not even a minute after the statement had left her mouth, Boomer had managed to disturbe a snapping turtle. Said reptile had clamped down on the poor blondes toes and was holding on for dear life as he thrashed his foot around in pain. Bubbles couldn't really blame him, her previous encounters with the turtles weren't much better. Superhuman or not those reptiles could really bite. As much sympathy as she had she still had to laugh though. He just looked so funny.

Standing on one leg, Boomer had his arm spread out for balance, the weird fish still attached to his left hand. On his right foot was the brown colored turtle, it's beak like mouth clamped to the toes of Boomer's shoe. This in itself would have been funny but what really made Bubbles laugh was the look on Boomer's face. He looked totally and utterly shocked at what was happening and panicked, shaking his leg vigorously.

He quickly lost his balance from the action and began flapping his arms like a crazed bird. It didn't help much though as he ever so slowly fell towards the swamp water.

"Aaahh! Bubbles, help!" Boomer called out in desperation, squeezing his eyes shut.

…

"Gotcha." Bubbles giggled, catching the blue Ruff by the arms from behind.

One cobalt orb slowly opened as if he were afraid it were just his imagination and he actually had fallen in the water. Realizing he was safe, Boomer sighed in relief before tilting his head back to look up at her. He couldn't help but grin sheepishly when he noticed the bright smile on her face.

He suddenly stiffened in her grasp, eyes widening like saucers. Her smile faded replaced by confusion as Bubbles tilted her head to the side. She could swear Boomer's face was turning pink as he floundered around in her grasp. She pushed against his shoulders, shoving him upright again before he could hit the water, dislodging the critters in the process.

"T-thanks." Boomer mumbled, almost to quiet for her to hear as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head, looking everywhere but at her.

"Its ok." Bubbles slapped her happy smile back on before walking past him. "Look on the bright side, at least it was only a turtle and not an alli-mumph!"

"DON'T. You. Dare. Finish that." Boomer all but yelped, his clean hand clamping over Bubbles's mouth, effectively cutting off her sentence. "You jinxed it the last time. Im not taking any chances."

While he continued his little rant, Boomer didn't seem to notice Bubbles had gone wide eyed. Repeatedly glancing behind him, she tugged at his gloved hand. When he didn't seem to notice she yanked his hand away in a panic. Grabbing him around the waist, Bubbles tossed Boomer over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes before blitzing in the opposite direction.

"Bubbles, what are you- AAHHH! Your a jinx!" not more than a foot away was an enormous gator. It's monstrous jaws opened wide as it snapped at them. "Run Bubbles! Run faster!"

Ignoring the screaming boy Bubbles ran, her feet rising to the surface. Near stagnant water sprayed up like walls on either side of them, Bubbles's aqua blue streak flashing faintly, hair streaming behind like golden banners.

"Remind me again why we can't just fly!" Boomer sighed, relaxing now that the gator was further away.

"Because were not supposed to use 'superpowers' during practice." Bubbles huffed, growing tired of having to explain again. 'Besides, you don't even know the half of it.'

If he was this whiney after being deprived of his flying for so short a time… Bubbles definitely didn't want to be the one to break the news to the Ruffs that they would soon have to wear the same type of restrictors that she and her sisters already used. He might just go into shock.

•••***•••

"Remind me why I haven't killed you yet!"

"Cause you haven't caught me yet! Now run!"

Brick could feel his eye twitching in annoyance, an overwhelming urge to strangle the teenager in front of him. Straight from the get go he had ended up with problems, his rotten luck winding him up with Mitch, the partner from hell, for the trial.

Things just spiraled down hill from there. Instead of materializing on the ground like they should have, Brick and Mitch had started out on the branches of the tallest tree Brick had ever seen. Without the ability to fly it was a rather daunting task to reach the ground once more and true to his expectations, Mitch had slipped. Normally that wouldn't have bothered Brick in the slightest, he hardly even knew him anyway, but Mitch had dragged him down as well. Fortunately about twenty feet from the ground they landed in a mass of vines, unfortunately, getting tangled in the stringy plants.

And if that wasn't enough, directly after getting out of the tree, they had been attacked by some type of jungle cat. Not even ten minutes after that Mitch miraculously angered a-were those even supposed to be here- rhino. Followed by a troop of monkeys after getting in a fight with one over a freaking banana of all things. And now… now… he was gonna die! Brick had, had enough with the lanky teenager, the only problem was that he couldn't seem to catch him.

He'd not the slightest clue as to how the boy had done it but Mitch had caused an insanely large explosion which led to the fire they were currently running from.

"Come on man! You can do it! You can do it!" Mitch shouted out encouragingly, either oblivious or uncaring of Bricks's bubbling anger. His face curled up in an infuriating smirk. "Run, run, run!"

"You better hope I don't catch you!" Brick roared, jumping over a decaying log. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to catch that damn brunet.

If he hadn't been so mad, or running for his hide, he would have stopped to think about that statement. For how could a mere human like Mitch possibly hope to keep up with, much less outrun, a superhuman. So what if he wasn't using his powers, his speed still should have been at least ten times that of this jackass. But as things were, Brick wasn't thinking about that, all he wanted was to wring Mitch's scrawny neck.

•••***•••

"Is this the kind of crap you guys do every day?"

"Most days… Damn it Butch, stop starring at my ass!" Buttercup snapped quietly, shifting to the side she threw the green eyed teen a heated glare.

"Well maybe if it wasn't so FAT I'd be able to see around it!" Butch growled back loudly.

"Shut up stupid, were in a tunnel it echoes!"

"I don't CARE if it ECHOES!" He snapped, shifting back to sit down. "We've been crawling throughout this thing for hours!"

"It's been less than twenty minutes since we left the dune buggy, and only about five since we found the tunnel." twisting in the tiny crawl space, Buttercup turned to sit beside Butch. "It should only be a bit further and we'll be inside."

By some lucky shot, the greens had found the targeted base camp. It had appeared at the border between the canyons and jungle area, in the form of a Mayan temple. The structure had been built into the side of one of the canyon walls and for all the world looked inconspicuous. If not for the surveillance camera Buttercup had spotted she might have considered driving past it. But as it were, the teens ditched the dune buggy in the thick foliage to investigate.

Closer observation revealed extensive amounts of cameras camouflaged in the area. Sentries were posted around as well, a couple having to be knocked out. Finally Buttercup had to deem it impossible to get in without detection and the two had to look for a back door.

Wo and behold, here they were, crawling through some cramped tunnel, probably lost after taking a wrong turn. Buttercup blamed Butch's constant complaining, Butch blamed Buttercup's ass for distracting him, she kicked him for starring, and he slapped said ass in retaliation. All in all, things weren't going so great.

"Hey, look at this?" Buttercup whispered, stopping abruptly at a thin crack in the wall, light filtering through it.

"Mmph!"

"Dude! What the hell!" turning as much as she could in the narrow space, Buttercup slapped him across the head before shoving him away from her thigh.

"You know, maybe if you didn't stop so fast I wouldn't a bumped into ya!" he grumbled back. "Then again, maybe if it wasn't for ASS DEL GRANDE here it wouldn't happen at all!"

"I SWEAR! If you make ONE more comment about my ass I'm gonna kill ya Rowdyruff!"

"Go ahead! I'd like ta see ya try!"

"Why you-!" clawing at the rock walls, Buttercup forced her body around to face the green eyed teen. She lounged at him, the small space leaving him no room to escape as her hands clamped down around his neck.

…

"BC?" a muffled voice weaseled its way into her angry mind. Her grip immediately loosened around Butch's throat just as he began to turn an odd shade of blue. "Is that you?"

"Mitch?" she called out experimentally, the gasping boy forgotten beneath her hands. Was she hearing things?

"Over here!" Mitch's enthusiastic voice echoed a little louder this time. "You and Butch ok?"

"Ugh…yah?" She winced slightly at the questioning squeak in her voice.

"What'd you do to my brother, Puff!" Brick's angry voice nearly shouted down the tunnel.

'Boy is he mad. Wonder what Mitch did this time.' Buttercup thought as she turned to follow their voices.

"Bro! She's tryna' kill me!" Butch called out pitifully the second she released him, he darted under and squeezed his way past Buttercup before she could whack him again.

Following after his retreating form, Buttercup stopped short. She had to clean the visor, rub her eyes, and blink a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. 'Nope, no such luck.' Butch, like the idiot he was, was stuck in a crack in the wall. His legs flailing back and forth as he tried to worm his way through.

"Come on, come on…" he muttered, thrashing a bit more. With a loud rip, he fell onto the other side. "Freedom!"

"Idiot." Buttercup muttered under her breath. Pausing at the crack, she eyed the space wearily. She pressed her hands against the sides, a loud rumbling crunch greeting her ears confirming her suspicions. 'Greaaat…'

"Come on Puff. We ain't got all day." Brick grumbled impatiently. Buttercup could see him crossing his arms on the other side with the same old irritated scowl he always seemed to have.

'Does this guy ever loosen up?'

When Buttercup made no move to get through the crack, Mitch came to stand in front of it. Shifting a bit, he wedged himself in the space, Blocking the green Puff from view. "Ugh… BC… can you… you know… ugh… fit?" Mitch whispered as quietly as he could, hoping not to anger her, when she refused to look at him he continued. "You can't… can you?"

Cheeks flushed, Buttercup turned away. Crossing her arms she pouted quietly trying to think of how she could get through since she couldn't fit and wouldn't be able to break the walls. It wasn't that she couldn't break the walls, she could smash through them as easy as cardboard. The problem was that if she did, after confirming how stable the walls were she knew that breaking them would cause the entire wall to collapse, the resulting noise would alert the sentries who would swarm the place in no time. They still hadn't found the objective yet, she wasn't even sure if this was a retrieval or extermination mission. But either way, it was a bad idea to make a lot of noise and attract attention until then.

"You guys go on ahead." Sighing in defeat, she made herself comfortable. "Call me when you need a distraction."

"Are you-"

"Just go!" she snapped, cutting him off. "Get out a here before someone notices ya!"

"K." obviously unhappy about it but knowing better than to argue, Mitch leaned away. "Alright guys, we better get going."

"Seriously?" Butch looked at the brunet incredulously. "We're just gonna leave?"

"We have to." Mitch mumbled, displeasure obvious on his face.

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Brick stalked off without a second glance. Mitch reluctantly trailed behind him, both disappearing from view. Waiting a moment, Buttercup leaned her face through the opening looking side to side. Sure enough, on the left side of the opening was Butch. 'What the hell is he doing?'

"Your supposed to go with them ya know."

Ignoring her, he slid down the wall sitting cross-legged beside the crack. Shifting a little he propped one leg up, resting his elbow on his knee. He fumbled around through his pockets for a moment before pulling out a dark green MP3 player and a pair of headphones. Without a single word, he popped one side in his ear before handing her the other, never once looking at her.

•••***•••

"Okay Boomer, moment of truth." Bubbles whispered, pulling her hair back she tugged her hood on, motioning for him to do the same. "Try to keep up."

Chewing on his thumb nail, Boomer pulled his hood up slowly. 'Please don't let me die…or at least don't make it painful.' Trying not to show his fear, Boomer followed after Bubbles wishing, not for the first time, to be able to fly again.

Backs pressed against jagged stone walls, the two blues inched along a narrow ledge. Now he was never one to fear heights, flying accustomed him to heights that made skyscrapers look like ants, but the very thought of slipping and falling now made him queasy. Sharp stalagmites jut out of the ground ready to skewer them if they made a single mistake. Water dripped from above making the rock slick and slippery.

"There's a jump coming up- you know… now that I think about it we never assigned you guys code names…" Bubbles mumbled quietly. "Well I'm just gonna call you blue till then ok."

Boomer just nodded absently, not really hearing what she was saying. Shifting slightly, Bubbles leaped across the eroding rocks to the ledge on the other side. Shuffling farther along she paused to wait for him, probably making sure he didn't fall. Taking deep steady breaths to calm his nerves, Boomer took a flying leap across the opening.

"Yes! I did- woah!" A strangled shout burst from his throat as the rocks crumbled beneath his feet.

"Shoot! Boomer!" Hands moving like lightning, Bubbles grabbed the front of Boomers jacket and yanked him back against the wall. Slapping her arm across his chest she plastered him to the rock. "…You ok?"

Fingers gripping into the solid stone, Boomer slowly nodded his head shakily. After a few moments Bubbles began moving again, Boomer inching after her. The lights in the cavern brightened the further they went until it filtered through a tunnel… a tunnel on the opposite ledge.

"Great… what else can go wrong?" Mumbling under his breath, Boomer glared down at the width of the gorge separating them from the tunnel. 'How the heck are we supposed to cross that?'

They couldn't fly, much to the blondes irritation, and there wasn't enough room to jump. Boomer was just about to start grumbling to Bubbles when he noticed her digging through her pockets. Showing amazing balance, she leaned forward off the ledge and grabbed what looked like two short metal pipes from her pants leg pockets. Sliding them together, they clicked, locking in place before she unzipped her jacket. From somewhere inside she pulled what looked like a spearhead and locked it into the metal pieces in her hand.

Finishing in about half a minute, Bubbles held what looked like a double headed spear. The two spear tips had three prongs with hooked edges. The handle was about a foot long, just wide enough for both hands to hold.

"Bubbles… what's that for?" Boomer questioned, eyeing the device.

"Its Aqua right now, not Bubbles, Aqua." Bubbles replied absently. Lifting the spear to eye level, she aimed it towards the tunnel across from them. "And you'll see in a second."

With a soft click a puff of smoke burst from the pipe end, the spear head rocketing out like a silver bullet. An audible crack echoed from the rock wall upon impact. Boomers enhanced vision allowed him to see the prongs on the spear snap out like a grappling hook, locking it into the wall. It was then that he noticed the wire-like rope attached to it.

Slipping her hand into a crack in the wall, Bubbles tugged on the rope a few times, making sure it held. Satisfied, she lifted the device above her head and pressed it against the wall. With a snap it locked in place and she tugged on the rope again for good measure.

"Hope you can balance Blue."

"Balance… why do I need balance?" Boomer questioned cluelessly.

The answer to his question came as Bubbles grabbed on to the long rope and pulled herself up. Like an acrobat she twisted her body coming to a handstand on the rope before dropping her feet down over her back. From there she shifted her weight onto the fore front of her feet and stood up straight on the rope. All Boomer could do was gape, his jaw hanging wide in awe at the way the petite blonde could move.

Without so much as lifting her arms for balance, Bubbles moved casually across the rope. Her hands clasped behind her back as if she were strolling through the park instead of walking across a tightrope suspended above a pit of jagged rocks. Once she reached the other side, Bubbles hopped delicately down into the open tunnel.

"Well, what you waiting for Blue? Come on."

'Im gonna die.' Was the last thought to cross Boomers mind before he hoisted himself up onto the rope. He didn't even bother trying to stand as he inched his way to the other side.

•••000•••

Hiya! This chapter just kinda appeared randomly. I actually had it sitting around waiting to be finished for quite some time. And before anyone asks the fight between the greens was just pure randomness that spouted from a stupid argument me and my best friend had.

I'd also like to apologize for taking such a long time to update. I'm currently experiencing a particularly bad case of writers block with random bursts of inspiration in between. To be honest I'm still very upset with this chapter. I wanted to add more to it like what happened with the blues or greens when they first arrived but I just couldn't write it, I even had a scene in mind of the greens squabbling over who would get to drive but I just couldn't seem to put it on paper. I did post up a one shot during that time though, it's called 'Socks' check it out if you can.

Anyways I'd like to ask that you help me out with some ideas or maybe stories that you've enjoyed, even songs if possible, anything that might get me out of this funk.

Also as an incentive to try and get more people to review, since none of these chapters have names I'm leaving it to you guys to try and come up with them if you want to. You don't have to but if someone leaves a chapter name I'll post the first ones I receive, whether it be by actual review or a pm.

Thanks for reading, please leave a review so I can try to improve. ^_^ 


	12. PR12:

PR 12:

Disclaimer: I do not own the PPG or any characters associated with them.

Sorry for taking so long on this guys. Between my short attention span and lack of ideas I just can't seem to find the motivation to keep writing this… I refuse to give up on it though and I'll keep trying, I won't lie it'll probably take a while but I'm trying to force myself back into the writing mood. In the mean time I will, at the very least, upload or update something on my page once a month. I refuse to lay idle for longer than that cause it just seems unfair to all of you… especially the ones that have been around since I first started writhing, so if I don't update I'll probably have some other oneshot lying around. (Trying to get better at those, I've got two so far and ideas for two more)

•••000•••

"You know… you look like a sloth like that." giggling in amusement, Bubbles watched as Boomer slowly inched his way across the rope. He had slipped a moment before and was now hanging upside down, still trying to get across.

"I'd really appreciate it… if you'd stop… distracting me." Boomer mumbled shakily, his breath coming in uneven gasps. Bubbles could even hear his strangled chants of "Don't look down."

He looked terrified, his face ghostly pale. If they were under better conditions, Bubbles would have cooed and hugged him. He looked like he could really use one at this moment.

As soon as he was close enough, Boomer jumped from the rope. Landing on the ledge with a 'oof' he scrambled deeper into the tunnel, leaning against a wall, breathing heavily.

Bubbles quickly plucked the spearhead out of the wall and with a sharp tug pulled the other side out as well. A sinewy hiss echoed out as the rope retract. With precise twists, Bubbles dismantled her equipment and slipped them away again before turning to face the boy.

By this time, Boomers face had regained color and his breathing slowed. Walking over, Bubbles placed a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"You ok now Blue?" she asked quietly, a warm smile on her face.

"Y-yah." Boomer squeaked, his voice cracking. "I'm fine!" he hastily added, springing to his feet and walking down the tunnel at a speedy pace. "We should keep moving."

'Aww.' Bubbles followed him without a sound. He was obviously embarrassed and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable on top of that. 'He's so cute. Wish I could pinch him.'

The path they took seemed to be a bit longer than expected but not by much. Before long Bubbles picked up the echo of footsteps in the distance. Sharp scraping sounds rumbled faintly along with a soft whirling. She recognized it to be a machine, judging by the audible buzzing sound it probably dealt with high amounts of electricity.

Slowing down a bit, Bubbles turned to Boomer raising a finger to her lips before continuing down the path as quietly as she could.

Since childhood Bubbles had been labeled the baby, the sweet, kindhearted, innocence of the group. Her signature attack being her Sonic Scream, the sheer volume and pitch making her, without a doubt, the loudest of her sisters. Heck she was even on her schools cheer squad and choir. But this image and all of those qualities are what made Bubbles the best at what she did. No one would ever suspect such sweet and adorable innocence and that's exactly why she did it.

With footsteps so silent one could accuse her of flying, Bubbles crept down the passage. 'Geez Boomer, how loud can you be?' glancing back, she shook her head as the blue plowed along behind her, his shoes squeaking annoyingly.

Disregarding the boy, she stopped as they reached a break in the path. Pressing herself against the wall, Bubbles held her breath listening for anyone nearby. A moment later she pulled a compact from her breast pocket and angled it just around the corner.

Normally this is where Buttercup would laugh and accuse her of being overly paranoid like Blossom but, honestly, she was glad she was. Just around the corner, tucked against the wall, was a large ball of scales.

Judging by the angle of the scales, Bubbles could tell that the creature was curled up and in actuality, far bigger than it looked. She couldn't remember the exact species but she could recognize it easily for it's raptor-like build.

Crouching down, Bubbles brought her hand to her mouth and bit lightly on one of the fingers of her black gloves. Using the other hand to unfasten the strap, she pulled it off. With her hand now bare she reached around the corner, tapping the ground with aqua blue nail painted fingers.

A soft buzzing sound echoed out as Bubbles powered up, bright blue electricity dancing over her body. Traveling down her arm the blue waves jumped along the floor making it's way to the scaly ball. With a sharp yelp, the beasts head popped up before it fell back down in a convulsing mass. From the corner of her eye she saw Boomer jump at the sudden shriek.

"Looks like it's clear now." Bubbles whispered, keeping her voice low just to be on the safe side. 'I've really gotta stop hanging around Bloss so much, her paranoia's rubbing off a little too much.'

"Woah! What is that thing?" Boomer questioned in a low tone as he rounded the corner. "Is it dead?"

The blonde male took a few cautious steps towards the creature. Leaning a little he nudged it with his foot experimentally, jumping back as it spasmed a bit.

"Of course it's still alive." She huffed indignantly. How could he even suggest that she killed the innocent creature? "Hologram or not, I'd rather not hurt it."

"You call this not hurt?" Boomer asked, a little louder this time. He hooked his foot under the long scaly neck, letting it's head roll off and flop back on the floor for emphasis.

"I call that unconscious." she quipped smartly. Hopping delicately over and around the raptor, she continued down the hall.

Snap!

Faster than lightning, Bubbles spun on her heels body dropping into a defensive crouch. Her black gloved hands blazed a watery blue as she readied an attack.

"Woah, woah, EASY!" Boomer yelped, arms flying up to protect his head. A flash of blue and silver caught her attention and Bubbles immediately zeroed in on his hands.

'A camera…' she blinked. "Boomer, why the heck do you have a camera?"

"I think the better question is, why are you trying to kill me?!" When he kept his arms up, she realized that her own arms were still blazing with energy.

"Sorry." Bubbles flicked them a few times, discharging them. "But seriously, why do you have a camera? This isn't a field trip."

"No one said I couldn't have one." Boomer mumbled, pocketing the blue and silver device. "Besides, you've got to admit, this thing looks pretty cool."

"Hate to break it to you, but you probably just took a picture of air." Bubbles stated with a straight face. "It's all holographic, remember?"

"Aww, man…" Boomer whined, looking genuinely depressed about this fact.

"You know, if you really wanted a picture I could just show you one." Bubbles blabbed absently, she had to stop herself from face-palming a second later at her slip up.

"Really? You got a picture of this thing?" Boomer eyed the beast curiously. "Well I guess you would have to, to make a hologram of it."

"Yah, of course." Sighing inwardly, Bubbles thanked her lucky stars for his misunderstanding. "I can call it up later, for now let's keep moving okay?"

"Sure."

•••***•••

"Seriously, where the fuck do you keep pulling this shit from?" Brick asked, starring with apprehension at Mitch as he pulled out another pixie stick from who knows where. He had long passed the single digits and had yet to run out even with his near constant consumption. "Is there like, a black hole in your jacket or something?"

"Nah, I gus gok a yok in ma pockek." Mitch mumbled through a mouthful of pink powder, puffing a little out in the process. "Yoh ture yoh dot wah thom?"

"No thanks. I'm good." Brick assured, waving his hand dismissively before continuing down the hallway.

Thankfully, for the sake of Brick's sanity, the duo had yet to come across any more obstacles. Mitch had ceased to draw troublesome attention and aside from the little detour with the greens, the path seemed to stay relatively straight forward.

They had only run into guards twice and both times Brick had dealt with them easily. Although there was one sentry that had caught him off guard, oddly enough the man had some type of problem with his gun and it had blown up in his face. Other then that, the only problem was Mitch himself. Sure he had stopped getting into trouble but the brunet boy was getting on the red Ruffs last nerves.

He never seemed to take anything seriously and when he wasn't talking about some random thing he was downing pixie sticks like there was no tomorrow. If that kid wasn't a bottomless pit he must at the very least have a tapeworm. Diabetes was very near in this boys future, or at least a rise in blood pressure for Brick.

"-and that's when people started using tanks in WWII" Mitch babbled around a half swallowed mouthful. A flicker of light flashed briefly that had Brick narrowing his eyes at the brunet. Quickly swallowing the rest of the powder, Mitch gave another idiotic grin. "What? Something on my face?"

Though he wanted to brush it off, something about that light didn't seem right. Brick could tell that it had come from somewhere in Mitch's direction and the fact that the boy had suddenly tensed merely made him more suspicious. 'Man this kid is troublesome. Whenever he's around weird things keep happening.'

There was only so much he could brush off as coincidental. Mitch was a disaster magnet, constantly getting into trouble of some sort. And then there was the fact that he could outrun him and all those times with the fire. It just didn't add up, the brunet was hiding something… 'First the explosion and wild fire, then that guard suddenly having his weapons blow in his face, and now I swear I saw fire coming from him …again…'

"Mitch…What-" what exactly was he supposed to ask anyway… 'why are you so accident prone?' 'how can a human outrun a superhuman?' 'do you somehow control fire?' it'd sound odd no matter what he said.

Unfortunately he never got the chance, Mitch suddenly went weird again and dived to the side of the cave. Brick didn't even bother to ask why, he had already associated it with danger of some sort. And sure enough, seconds later a high whining sound filled the air.

Ducking down, Brick glanced up at the bright white stream of something-or-other flash above his head. Flying over him it continued down the passage for a few dozen feet before crashing into a wall with a loud 'boom'.

Without wasting another second the redhead leapt towards the opposite wall of the tunnel ducking behind a large boulder. He paused for a moment, focusing on his fist before cursing aloud, damning the pink Powerpuff and the monkey for stripping him of his powers in this stupid game that he never wanted to be part of in the first place.

"Dude!" Mitch called from across the tunnel. He was hiding behind a boulder of his own, flapping the folds of his jacket wildly.

Before Brick could yell at the brunet for his stupidity Mitch pulled a dark silver pistol form somewhere in the jacket. It looked like the ones Brick had used the day he and his brothers had played that 'game' just a slightly different design. Waving it around a little, Mitch gestured to his jacket once more, dramatically pulling back the flaps.

Catching on Brick unzipped his own jacket, pulling back the flaps to expose a black, leather looking gun holster that, without him noticing, had somehow been strapped just below his ribcage. Snatching it out he turned back towards Mitch only to spy empty air.

'What the hell?'

BOOM!

Not even bothering to flinch, Brick peaked over the boulder. Dark grey smoke filled the air, bright flashes of orange zipping around like a pinball. Pressing a few buttons he had previously found in the goggles, Brick turned on the heat sensors. A rainbow of colors, mostly reds and yellows, appeared before his eyes.

Deciding to play it safe for the moment he lay the gun flat over the top of the boulder, sniping a few targets from a distance.

'1, 2, 3, 4…5' Counting them off in his head, Brick was surprised to note the sudden disappearance of a few targets as they vanished into thin air. Blinking twice he shook his head, shaking it before returning his goggles back to it's original setting.

When it did, he noticed Mitch at the far end of the tunnel, peeking and occasionally shooting around the corner. Throwing caution to the wind he leapt over the boulder and ran towards the brunet, pressing his back against the stone wall.

"There's guards everywhere." Mitch grumbled, shooting another blast around the corner. "We're probably gonna have to abort if we don't get all ten of these guys around the corner before they set off the alarm."

"All ten huh? Cover me!" Dropping to the floor, Brick rolled just into the opening of the next cavern. Pulling the gun back towards his face like a sniper rifle, he took aim and blasted away. '6, 7, 8, 9… Crap! Where's 10?'

Glancing around, he looked left, just in time to see an army printed pant leg and boot as it disappeared around another bend.

"AGH!" crying out in pain, the man came flying back into the cave, looking as if he had been kicked. He slumped down, unconscious, as his head crashed into the stone floor. Moments later a familiar mop of shaggy brown hair stepped into view.

'What the?' Looking behind him, Brick was slightly surprised to note that Mitch was no longer there. Turning back, he glared suspiciously at the boy in question.

"Whatcha waitin for? Come on." Mitch chirped happily, ducking back around the corner. "Looks like we've finally reached their base and I'm pretty sure your gonna wanna see this. It looks totally awesome."

Brick had his doubts, but upon walking down the short path and turning the corner, but he found that the brunet hadn't been kidding. Even Brick had to admit it looked pretty cool. Just around the last corner was a large spacious room. High metal spires of varying heights rose along the walls every twenty or so feet. What looked like enormous plasma globes at least ten feet in diameter were mounted on each slender tip. In the direct center of the room was some type of giant machine.

From the angle he was at Brick could just see a large screen built into the side, probably a control panel. The opposite side housed steel sliding doors. The entire machine looked foreign to him, from it's strange green tinted steel to the bright yellow lights pulsing across it's surface. Honestly the thing looked like some sort of giant microchip with a miniature Eiffel tower mounted on top.

At the very top of the fifty to sixty foot green tower was the absolute biggest plasma globe in the entire room. The glass sphere was a good twenty-five feet around, a kaleidoscope of colors writhing within it. Brighter waves of red, blue, and purple looking electricity sparked wildly, dancing along it's surface before darting out towards the other globes. Each time it jumped the waves seemed to glow brighter, as if it were collecting energy before continuing to the next sphere.

"Only down side is it means we were sneaking around for nothing." Sighing in exasperation, Mitch reached for the wing tipped ear of his goggles.

"What are you talking about?"

To the redheads immense irritation, Mitch ignored him as he fiddled with a few buttons on the headset. A soft static buzzed for a moment before being replaced by Buttercup's voice. 'It wasn't just goggles then huh.'

"Hey BC, looks like all the stupid stealth junk was for nothin." Folding his arms grumpily, Mitch waited a moment before continuing. "Turns out it's an illegal 'Transport Terminal'."

Brick could distinctly hear Buttercup's whoop of joy straight through the headset before a loud rumbling crash. He almost felt bad for Mitch as he tugged the headset off, grasping his ears in pain. "You know the drill Mitch! Start smashin, but ya better save some for me!" Brick could hear Butch shouting obscenities, his voice slowly fading. He could only guess that Buttercup had ran off and left his brother behind.

"Damn that girl can scream." Twirling a finger in his ear, Mitch pulled it out before replacing his headset. "Well, you heard the lady, let's start smashin."

The ground shook slightly, pebbles sliding over the floor before loud sirens began screeching. The rock walls in the room suddenly slid away in several places, trap doors opening in the floors and walls.

From the openings came a herd of long necked scaly raptors. Each creature was a good fifteen feet tall, covered in bleached white scales and some type of steel plating. The green armor covered their shoulders and chests running down their backs to cover large thighs. At the end of their tails were sharp steel blades on the outer edge of the oddly red feather tips. Sniffing around, they milled about the room, spreading across the open floor space.

"Aww man." Mitch whined, sliding his gun back into the holsters. Shuffling deeper he pulled out a pair of spike tipped steel knuckles and slipped them on. "I hate fighting these stupid Droma- whatevers." Turning to Brick he added. "Ya might wanna put your gun away too, that armor their wearing deflects the bullets."

"Wha- oh that little bastard!" Brick watched as Mitch ran off into the room. Growling, he debated wether or not it was worth the punishment he would get if he left the brunet to get eaten. "Ah, what the hell."

Tucking the gun away he sifted through his pockets, if he had a gun on him that wasn't there before he was sure to have more, for anything that seemed useful. He hadn't really had time, or knowledge of, anything other than the goggles with all the trouble Mitch got them into previously. Ignoring the loud shrieks of the creatures he located and removed random things from the variously pockets.

So far he found something that looked like a speargun, the ray gun, two steel knuckles, and a pair of weird something or others that looked like giant butterfly knives. The first one didn't look very helpful, the second was obviously no use. The third items would probably be helpful, the fourth he still didn't know.

Picking at one of the items, Brick ran his fingers over the cool metal. With a soft click it snapped around creating a long, sleek, metal shaft, before a shorter piece popped out. Spinning it around, Brick marveled at how the once two pieces blended together almost seamless.

Grabbing the other one up he found himself looking at a pair of steel tonfa. It was a type of martial arts weapon if he remembered correctly, and he often saw it on one of the many video games he and his brothers owned. He'd never tried them before but they looked difficult to handle.

'Well, can't be too hard. Basically just hitting stuff.' Pocketing the rest of the stuff he probably wouldn't use, Brick stepped into the cave.

•••***•••

"Come on ya snail! Were gonna miss all the action!" Buttercup called over her shoulder.

"You're crazy you know that?!" Butch shouted, trying to keep up as he brushed rocks and dust out of his hair.

The second they got that call from Mitch, Buttercup began blasting apart the walls and caused a cave in to free herself. It wouldn't have been much of a problem except that he had nearly gotten trapped beneath the rubble. They were now running down winding corridors with Buttercup in the lead as though she knew exactly where she were going.

"What was your first clue?" Unzipping her jacket Buttercup pulled out a foot long pipe, holding the center of it she flicked it out to her side. A sharp snap and the ends extend in a blazing green light. "Besides I enjoy every minute of it, now hurry up!"

Racing off further ahead of him, Buttercup turned a sharp corner. Butch couldn't help but pull up short as he rounded into a small cavernous hall. Nearly every surface was covered in dark scorch marks, shards of rock and metal, and worse yet body's. Hopping along the larger rocks and boulders, she continued through the room as if it were completely normal to see a dozen or so bodies lying around.

The Ruff hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should follow or if he should try to help the people, until he heard a low groan from one of them.

'Isn't she supposed to help them?' Butch couldn't understand these girls anymore. All his life he had grown up thinking he was supposed to destroy them. It had gotten to the point that, once upon a time, just seeing one of them would send him into full blown fight mode.

The Powerpuff's were the very definition of all things sweet and kind. They were the goody two shoes that saved the day, the little girls that could do no wrong. The girls everyone looked up to, who every little girl wanted to be like.

The kids that saved Townsville, who would help every last person whether they wanted to or not. They did everything from fighting giant monsters to helping little old lady's find their lost cat. They even helped their enemies, so how could she leave these people here like it didn't matter?

Things had gotten weird ever since they had left the main part of the city. Sure he hadn't exactly tried to find out what was going on. He hadn't cared at the time, all Butch could think then was how great it was that they weren't around all the time to ruin his fun. But could they change this much in just that amount of time?

'Im probably over thinking things.… since when do I think this much? Aaahh! I'm turning into Brick!' shaking it off, Butch ran after the other raven, twisting down the tunnels. It seemed like he was doing a lot of following recently... Skidding to a halt, he looked in awe at the hoard of creatures in the cavern they had just reached. "Woah… what are those?"

"Something we can hit." Buttercup replied, twirling the staff in her hand before jumping headlong into the mass of moving scales. "BANZAI!"

The snake necked dinos seemed to be everywhere, jaws snapping, claws slashing. And to make things more complicated the, admittedly cool, electrical balls were firing lightning bolts everywhere. Too busy checking everything out he didn't notice the scaly mass creeping up beside him.

"Gaaauuuu!" Butch nearly jumped out of his skin as one of the beasts came flying at him like a raptor out of Jurassic Park. It's head reared back, feet tucked close to its chest as razor sharp talons spread out dangerously.

"Aah!" Throwing himself back, Butch hit the ground hard. The monster flew over him but not before catching him on the cheek, bright red blood oozing from the shallow cut.

Rolling onto his belly, Butch got up into a crouch. The raptor creature slowly turned towards him in a menacing fashion, clicking it's fanged maw loudly. It was then that he noticed it's saber-toothed teeth that jut out like serrated daggers.

Keeping low to the ground it crept closer hissing all the while. It's freakishly long tail darted out, whipping at his legs. Butch jumped into the air, the tail swinging harmless beneath him.

'Shit!' he cursed, realizing that he had left himself wide open as the scaled head darted forward to snap at his shoulder. 'They aren't as stupid as I thought.'

Twisting in midair, Butch punched it right between the eyes on sheer reflex, startled when the reptile stumbled back shaking it's head, eyes rolling awkwardly. He had forgotten about what Mojo said about using their powers, he had automatically assumed that meant he wouldn't have them at all. He couldn't fly, he had tried, but to find that he still had his super strength.

'Things were about to get interesting.'

Once regaining its bearings the lizard turned to him again its diamond slitted eyes starring him down. It stayed motionless, it's breathing the only obvious exception. With a guttural snarl it charged him again. Butch leaned forward ready to grab hold of it when it shifted, barreling right past him. Twisting around he was just in time to catch the beast wide maw as it attempted to snap around his head.

Just like he had with the cow the previous day he used his grip on the teeth and knocked it on its side. That seemed to stun it for a moment, the Ruff used that time to put some distance between them before it could get back up. Mildly pleased with himself, Butch was about to give himself a pat on the back when a stinging pain shot up his arm.

Gripping his wrist, he cursed a second time noticing the glove over his knuckles was torn, blood seeping into the dark fabric. In seconds he was surrounded by a mass of scales, fangs, and claws all trying to take a bite out of him.

'They want the blood!'

Everything seemed to blend together in a thick wall of scaly white as a good number of the reptiles stopped whatever they were doing in favor of coming after him.

'Why won't these things go down!?'

No matter how hard he hit them they just kept coming back. He punched, he kicked, he even tried ramming into one of them but they just shook it off and came charging right back. To make make matters worse, he was hurting himself more than those damn albino lizards. It was most likely their scales, though they looked pretty smooth Butch suspected them to be sharper than they appeared for anything that touched them seemed to tear whether it be cloth or skin.

'Fuck. This is pissing me off!' Spinning around, Butch narrowly avoided a claw to the gut as a raptor kicked at him. 'Alright that's IT!'

Crouching low he spread his feet apart, bracing himself as a tail the size of a small tree whipped at him. Letting it slam into his chest, Butch wrapped his arms around it. Glancing down he wasn't surprised to see that he had gouged a small trench into the cavern floor as he skid back from the force.

'The Hell! That felt like a train hit me!' Avoiding the knife ended tip, Butch gripped tight and pulled. 'Huh? Lighter than I thought.'

Yanking the lizard off it's feet he spun, whipping it around him. Faster, faster, faster he turned, dragging the raptor around in a tornado spin. The raptor shrieked, kicking and flailing trying to get at him.

'Maybe they are stupid after all.'

All it's thrashing was doing is hurting the other raptors more as Butch smashed it into them. Once he had a reasonable amount of floor space again he let go. The raptor flying off, bowling over some of the others.

"Yah! Wohoo! That'll show em!" Green orbs blinked in confusion as Mitch went flying by. The Brunet was sitting on one of the raptors, arms wrapped around it's neck and legs tucked under it's arms in a way that the thing couldn't reach him no matter how hard it tried. "This is fun, you gotta try it man!"

"The Hell?" Butch murmured, a second later he was running in the opposite direction. "CRAP! Mitch don't bring it over here!"

"Not my fault!" Mitch shouted, grabbing at the horns on its head, trying to turn it in another direction. "These guys don't come with steering!"

"We'll try something!" Butch yelled back, dodging under one of the many white bellies.

•••***•••

"Bubbles, you're insane!" Boomer shouted, clinging to the cavern wall as the petite blonde dashed past him.

It was a train wreak moment, no matter how much he wanted to look away he just couldn't. Bubbles had already jumped, ever so slowly falling down towards the plasma globe beneath the ledge he stood on. There was no way the glass could support her weight and even if it did she'd be fried to a crisp from the electrical current firing around it.

Just as her feet touched the surface, Bubbles tucked herself into a ball rolling over the thin glass.

"What was that?" Bubbles called back innocently. "Aren't you coming?"

Boomer just gave her a weird look, he had obviously been thinking there was something wrong with her. When it became obvious that he wouldn't answer, Bubbles stomped on the surface of the sphere.

"Don't do that!" Boomer jumped, screeching in horror at the idiotic little Puff for her stupidity.

"It won't break if that's what your worried about." Bubbles called, waiving her hand absently. "It's not actually glass. It's pretty durable stuff."

"Are you trying to get me killed? Even if it docent break I'll be roasted alive the second I touch that thing."

"No you won't, we're super human remember?"

"Docent mean I can't get electrocuted!"

"What about that bat you used to make, it was electrical."

"That was my own energy which, if you haven't noticed, I CAN'T USE!"

"It's the SAME thing." Bubbles huffed in exasperation. 'Whether it's from inside or outside of your body, electricity is still electricity.'

"No it's not!" Boomer dimly recalled the time he had been working with one of his first robots. In a moment of temporary insanity he had used one of Mojo's experiments to power it and zapped himself so bad he caused every electrical appliance he touched to short circuit for nearly a week. Not to mention what it did to his hair, his brothers would still occasionally tease him about it. "I've seen what happens and it ain't pretty!"

"Alright then, you leave me no choice." muttering the last part, Bubbles pulled off both gloves. Tucking them away she placed her hand against the globe.

Rainbow colors of electricity swarmed around her sparkling and crackling. Aiming her other hand towards the ledge she fired a small wave at Boomer. With a startled shout he jumped clean off the ledge, landing in a disgruntled heap at the smug Puffs feet.

"Now was that so bad?"

"You're TRYING to kill me aren't you?" Boomer pointed an accusing finger at Bubbles.

"No, I just can't leave you behind." Boomer glanced up at Bubbles, shocked at her words. A strangely fuzzy feeling crept over him only to be squashed down when she continued with, "You wouldn't learn anything if I let you hang around on the sidelines."

Walking to the very top of the sphere Bubbles crouched down placing her hands back on the surface.

"Ok Blue, keep an eye on what I'm doing cause you'll have to do this later."

A bright light began to form around Bubbles's hands, transferring from the sphere. With a loud crackle yellow lightning danced over her electrifying the very air. Cobalt orbs stared in awe as she stood up pulling the deadly waves along as if they were nothing more than harmless rope. Boomer could feel all the hairs at the back of his neck as they stood on end.

"You use your body as a conductor. If you tense up you'll zap yourself so stay relaxed and let it flow." Turning towards him, Bubbles held out her hand inviting the cautious Ruff closer. "It's like the energy we always use just a slightly different feel. Sort of like how velvet is soft but silk is softer. You just have to be a little more careful with how you use it."

"Aaaahhhh!" "Woohoo!" two different voices echoed out from the ground below drawing the attention of both blondes.

"Guess the lessons over." Bubbles sighed wearily, shooing her hand towards Boomer telling him to back away.

Once he reached a reasonable distance Bubbles raised her hands above her head. The air grew considerably thicker, a warm moisture settling as what looked like storm clouds began to appear.

•••***•••

"They are getting better." loud clicks echoed throughout the small room as Mojo clattered away at the keyboard.

The screens around him reflected each of the teens in their various places throughout the holographic landscape. Already accustomed to the Powerpuffs and their friends he ignored them for the most part, instead keeping a close eye on his sons.

Even tough he had a rough start and nearly killed his partner on several occasions, Brick was doing remarkably well. He was now holding his own at fending off the Dromeusgigas surrounding him. Even without powers, his son seemed to adapt well, using weapons in place of his usual powered attacks. Even against creatures that not only dwarfed him but out matched him in strength, Brick refused to give up not backing down a inch no matter how hard the reptiles attacked.

Butch, being the brash and outgoing boy he was, had surprised the monkey considerably when he had chosen to stay behind with Buttercup earlier. He was acting much more his usual self once he reached the battlefield, diving in head first like his counterpart. Mojo had to admit that he was mildly impressed, though truthfully not surprised, that Butch had been the first of his brothers to realize that they could still use their super strength.

He had told the boys that they would not be able to use their super powers during practice. Explaining that the machine would temporarily nullify their powers for the duration of their time within. What he hadn't told them was that their 'powers' only referred to the externals, such as flight or their ability to create certain energy beams and the like. He wanted to see how long it would take them to figure out, on their own, that their muscle functions would not be affected.

His third son Boomer was a little harder to evaluate. The blonde Powerpuff seemed to have to save him or force him to continue on, on countless occasions. He had shown his immaturity in many different ways but at the same time learned the most out of his brothers. Boomers ability to absorb information was proving useful as he picked up on how to work things quickly. Simply watching for a moment and he was already grasped the basics on how to channel the electrical currents through his body. Lucky for him Bubbles was a far better conductor and the electrical waves centered on her instead of overwhelming him.

Speaking of Bubbles, clicking on a few keys Mojo brought the young girls picture up on the central monitor. Now able to focus better he watch as she drew in the power. Setting up a data analysis he recorded her energy intake.

'Hmm, she is able to absorb the volts at a much higher rate than before. It seems her intake and overflow levels have risen as well. That is very good to know, she will be a valuable asset in the next few weeks of training.'

Mojo watched with interest as Bubbles called forth the energy within her body, the natural elemental pull drawing forth the moisture in the air around her. Dark storm clouds sprang to life, swirling ominously as the friction converged upon her. In moments the youngest Puff had turned herself into a living storm.

The rainbows of electricity danced around striking out wildly in every direction. Through sheer willpower she focused it on the plasma globes scattered throughout the room. Gargantuan explosions of light and sound vibrated through the cavern dislodging rocks and boulders as the walls began to collapse upon itself. With a loud shout she discharged the energy within her towards the ceiling, blasting a hole through it.

The remaining conscious Dromeusgigas scattered, their prey forgotten in their haste to save themselves. The teens used this to their advantage, leaving the reptiles to fend for themselves. Brick was the first of his boys to catch on as he immediately began leaping onto the rocks, using them as leverage to catapult himself higher into the air. After a while he reached the globe the two blues and the Mitchelson boy now stood upon.

Mojo shook his head. 'That boy draws too much attention to himself. My son already suspects him. There is sure to be questions after that they are not yet ready for. … Maybe in another week or two…or not…'

Mojo would have slapped the brunet teenager if he could. He grumbling colorful curses under his breath as the imbecile tripped on one of the falling rocks, coughing up a dark cloud of smoke. Luckily Brick didn't see this, though Boomer sure did. Thankfully they didn't have time to focus on the matter as the boulders smashed into the sphere they stood upon. The surface shattered upon impact, the teens leaping out in various directions as they all leapt towards their escape.

Like usual the Mitchelson boy was the first out, followed by Bubbles, Brick sprang out through the ceiling a moment later followed closely by Boomer. The four of them easily made their way onto the distance rock face, safely standing upon the mountain edge. Mojo squinted for a moment, a slight nervousness creeping over him when he noticed the lack of his second son.

Rising dust blanketed the sky, the weight of the mountain caving in on itself shaking the holographic landscape. Just as he was about to panic, a streak of green and black darted out of the dust clouds, soaring high into the air to land upon the peak of the mountain beside the other teens. A wave of relief washed over the small black haired monkey as he recognized not only his son but the raven Puff perched smugly on the rocks.

"Alright, that is enough excitement for one day." Mojo sighed clicking a few keys. The loud whirling sound confirmed that the machine was shutting down.

The images on the screen flashed briefly before returning to the uniformed white walls of the training room. He watched as they removed the visors and returned them to their places before getting up to go to the room. If the look on his boys faces were anything to go by, Mojo was sure he'd have to listen through an interrogation from his oldest for quite a bit.

'Oh well, they would have found out at some point, hopefully I can give them a believable story until later though… The pink Powerpuff will not be very pleased if I explain everything without her, besides my explanations will only confuse them.'

•••000•••

Gah! It's driving me insane! I'm writing this an I know I can do better but I'm confused on how to do so. This chapter just seems to move too fast but every time I try to add something to slow it down I mess up and end up deleting it.

Can't wait till I can just finish writing without having to reference stuff I've already written an make sure they match up. Only two, technically one and a half, chapters left before I start writing all new stuff. I know a few that will be happy with that, considering the GGG make an appearance at that time. There's a few more villains that will be popping up after that including everyone's favorite hill billy, Fuzzy Lumpkins.

I know what I want to do with this but I'm not so sure what I should do to get there… if you all would be so kind as to send in a few ideas, be they snippets of video games or pictures of places, I'd very much appreciate it.

Please leave a review or comment, thank you! ^_^


	13. PR13: Vague Answers & More Questions

PR 13: Vague Answers & More Questions

Disclaimer: I don't own the Powerpuff Girls or any of the characters associated with them, but I do own the idea behind this particular story and I hope all of you like it.

By the way, for any of you that missed it and might still be interested I'm still up for ideas on chapter titles.

•••000•••

Swoosh!

The soft clatter of boots that had seemed so very loud before was immediately overpowered by the chatering of the teenagers within the room. To be fair it was mostly the two ravens and the brunet. Boomer was too shy to actually say anything and was merely listening to Bubbles as she chittered on. Brick like usual just stood off to the side, not quite far enough away to seem out of the circle but not close enough to take part in the conversation either.

'That boy really needs to loosen up. He's nearly as bad as the Powerpuff. I am beginning to wonder if it is an inherit trait, perhaps I will look into that at a later date.' Stopping just inside the door, Mojo clapped his hands drawing the attention of the rambunctious teenagers within.

"Alright, I am sure you have a lot of questions you want to ask me." Mojo started, cutting Brick off just as he opened his mouth. "Unfortunatly I am not at liberty to speak them all at this very moment but I will explain in due time. For now you will all follow me as I have other things to discuss for the time being."

Shuffling back from whence he came, Mojo made his way down the hall. Knowing they would follow he didn't bother to stop until he reached the living room. The short monkey couldn't help but grin hearing his sons muttering in awe of the room. It was rather impressive, and only more so knowing that Mojo himself had created the initial design even if he hadn't decorated it.

Settling himself in Buttercup's section of the room, Mojo motioned for the rest of them to follow. Mitch wasted no time plopping himself in his customary spot on the love seat, legs tossed over the back, head dangling over the edge. Butch made himself right at home amongst Buttercup's piles of cushions and pillows, much to the Puffs dismay. As she tried to push him out of her favorite spot, Boomer took up the opposed end of the couch.

With a huff, Buttercup snatched a few pillows out from under the green Ruff. Piling them on and against him she flopped down between the boys lying across them with Butch as a makeshift pillow and a very uncomfortable Boomer as a foot/leg rest. Brick slightly knocked Mitch off of the chair as he settled on the wide armrest and Bubbles curled comfortably on the plush carpet with a few pilfered pillows. Once Mojo was sure he had all of their attention he decided on the best way to explain the new situation.

For the first time in a long time the monkey found himself at a loss for words. He wasn't quite sure where to start or even how much to say without giving away too much information. Black beady eyes darted around the room, glancing around nervously for a moment before settling on the brunet boys black and white checkered wristband. Yes he could start there.

"My apologies Bubbles, but would you mind getting the TPR's from your sisters lab."

"No problem Mojo." Jumping back up off the floor, Bubbles happily complied. Dashing off in a streak of blue she returned moments later handing the short monkey the items he asked for.

"Thank you." Mojo murmured, prodding lightly at the three small microchips he pushed them around in his palm.

It amazed him how tiny the chips had become. Their initial design had left them the size of quarters and now they could easily fit on his pinky nails with room to spare. Eyeing one of the chips, Mojo found that if he squinted hard enough he could just make out the light gold of the cerebrum and regulator in the upper corner. His inquisitive mind piqued, Mojo focused on each one, picking out the different functions.

A quiet cough broke his train of thought, the furry ape looking back up at the forgotten teens who were still waiting for him to continue his explanation.

"Ah right, my apologies." Mojo scratched the side of his face before clearing his throat. "Now, what I have in my hand here are what is called TPR meaning Temporary Power Restrictor." holding up a hand, he gave his red son a stern look effectively stalling any questions. "Contrary to their given name they are in fact regulators and not complete restrictors." Noticing Butch's blank expression, Mojo sighed lightly realizing that he would have to simplify things further.

"It's basically like training weights for your powers." Buttercup interrupted, sending the green Ruff a bored glance.

"Yes, thank you Powerpuff." Mojo nodded his acknowledgement. "One could basically call them that. They are made to not only regulate super powers but also to strengthen them. Unfortunately the primary function is the improvement of the body and physical structure meaning the main focus is your muscles. The reason I say unfortunate is because this means that it completely shuts down the external functions such as flight and many forms of lasers."

"And you're telling us this because…" Boomer questioned, an expression of extreme discomfort on his face though if it was caused by the girl lying across him or the implication Mojo wasn't really sure. Then again this was Boomer he was talking about, the boy had probably figured out what he was talking about.

"Seriously? I thought we got rid of those after juvie." Brick snapped, folding his arms over his chest. "There's no way I'm putting one on again."

"Yah man, do you know how long we had to wait to get our powers back?" Butch immediately backed up his brothers statement, a discontented scowl on his face. "There's no way I'm letting anyone take em again."

"Oh quit whining ya pansie's, it's not like you're the only one that has to wear em." Buttercup blandly stated, rolling onto her side she propped herself on one elbow to stare at the redhead across from her.

"Oh really now? I don't see you wearing one." Brick glowered back.

"Of course I am." Buttercup stuck her tongue out at the boy, grinning at his irritated reaction. Sliding it out a little further she rolled a bright emerald tongue ring around on the center. She wiggled it for a moment to make sure the boys could see before continuing. "Custom made. All of us have to wear em. Helps with the bad blood."

The monkey felt his eye twitch for a second before Mitch broke out into a coughing fit, drawing everyones attention. Acting fast, Bubbles jumped up and swat him across the back causing the brunet to cough out a mist of smoky blue. He grinned sheepishly then, holding up an empty pixie stick as explanation for his sudden spasm.

Mojo inwardly sighed, from the corner of his eye he noticed the way Brick rolled his crimson eyes and Butch immediately flopped back. 'Good, hopefully they didn't notice the slip.'

"What were we talking about?" Butch questioned aloud, anyone could see the moment when he seemed to remember as his face lit up. "Oh yah, those chip thingies- speaking of chips, you got anymore of those?" he glanced down at Buttercup whom was still lying across his lap.

"Hey dude there's still some between the couch cushions." Mitch called out, tossing a few chips to the raven boy who looked back at him weirdly for a moment before shrugging and popping them into his mouth.

"Dude! Gross!" Boomer cringed on the opposite end of the couch. "Who knows how long those could have been there."

"Actually, surprisingly enough, Mitch keeps his chair pretty clean." Bubbles chirped.

"Only cause he's constantly hungry and looking for food." Buttercup scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. "I wouldn't put it past him if he suddenly pulled a whole sub-sandwich out of there one day. The guy stashes food like a squirrel stashes nuts, not that it ever lasts longer than a day."

"I'm right here you know."

"Your point?"

"You're all mean to me." Mitch grumbled, kicking his feet back over the top of the chair he folded his arms sulking silently.

"Anyway, back to those microchips." Boomer looked torn between happiness at getting his hand on a new 'toy' and horrified over what it did. "I assume that Bubbles and Blossom have one too?"

Three pairs of eyes turned to the blonde in question whom promptly turned a slight pink in the face. Bubbles, squirming under the sudden attention, began twiddling her thumbs.

"Just show em, not like it's something to be all embarrassed about." Buttercup rolled her emerald eyes. "Besides you're the one that chose to put it there."

"Shut up." Bubbles whined, her cheeks brightened as she fidgeted uncomfortably for a few more seconds. Finally, the blue Puff relented and pulled up the front of her baby blue tee just enough to show off a navel piercing.

"And here I thought you were the innocent one?" Butch crowed winking at the flustered girl before wincing as his counterpart elbowed him in the gut. "What? I'm just saying. By the way, how come they get custom stuff and we get a bunch of crappy junk?"

"If you were paying attention, that is to say that you were listening while I was talking to you earlier, which is a short time ago, you would have heard that I clearly stated these are TEMPORARY, which you would have known if you were paying attention while I was speaking to you in the first place!" Mojo snapped, irritated by the constant interruptions and lack of focus in the teenagers. 'I cannot wait until I can simply speak instead of dancing around explanations like a skittish feline.'

"Anyway, just put those on, I don't care where you put them as long as you wear them somewhere on your person. I have things I must attend to so you boys will

be staying here until I say so." Mojo jumped up out of his seat, quickly making his way towards the door. "No complaining!" the monkey spun around on the spot turned slightly red in the face as he pointed a long bony finger at his sons before any one of them could utter another word. Three pairs of mouths snapped shut. "You will stay here and none of you are to leave this house until I say otherwise. And no causing trouble, that means you!" Mojo jabbed his finger in Butch's direction, glaring flatly at the boy until he turned away in reluctant submission. He turned to his eldest then, starring the boy down, not the slightest bit intimidated by the teens piercing red glare. "And you will be courteous to your hosts, which means you will answer when spoken to. You are not to be rude either because if you do, so help me…"

Leaving the threat hanging in the air, Mojo continued to stare down the red Ruff until Brick turned away with a loud huff. The boy was obviously ticked and would surely sulk for a while but Mojo knew he had won and his son would listen.

With that done the tiny ape scurried out of the room sighing in exasperation. 'I am getting too old for this.'

•••***•••

Cobalt orbs continued to stare at the door long after the monkey disappeared. He took solace in the fact that he wasn't the only one seeing as all the others had gone completely silent. After all it had been a long time since any of them had seen the monkey quite so irritated and even longer since he had slipped back into his odd speech patterns.

"I call rematch!" Butch suddenly shouted, startling everyone as he jumped up off the chair and dove towards a video game handle lying in front of the tv.

His action caused Buttercup to fall to the ground, the startled girl flipping in midair to land on her hands and knees. With an irritated growl that Boomer could have sworn sounded like a yowling cat she lunged forward, swiping at Butch's ankle. Successfully knocking the boy off his feet she snatched up the control handle and plopped back down on the couch.

Boomer stared wide eyed for a moment, uncertain of how he should react to that when he noticed Bubbles getting up. His eyes flicked over, locking on the petite blonde as she readjusted her clothes.

He wasn't quite sure what it was he thought about Bubbles, the obvious was that he was mildly afraid of her. Not because she intimidated him, she was a little too small to be intimidating in his point of view. That didn't stop him from being weary though, their entire childhood was constant fights between both them and their siblings.

What really bothered him was the time that they had captured and held him hostage. He was too young and naive to understand at the time but was absolutely horrified later on. It's not exactly easy for a little boy to forget being surrounded by girls in nothing but his underwear while they laughed. It left a little scarring.

Even with all that he couldn't deny the fact that he liked being around her though. It was nice to be near someone that would literally exude happiness. It gave him a warm feeling inside.

Bubbles was almost literally in his face then before Boomer realized that he had fazed out and that she was talking to him. "Wh-what was that?"

"I was asking if you'd like to take a look around." Bubbles replied patiently, her eyes shining a playful aqua. "I'm sure there's at least a few rooms that you'd enjoy seeing."

Glancing nervously at Brick, Boomer silently begged his brother for help. Said boy huffed loudly, obviously still sulking about having to take orders from their father. Brick glared for a moment in what Boomer had come to recognize as his contemplateing face before relenting once again.

Boomer nearly sighed with relief as Brick mouthed an unhappy 'fine' to the silent question before turning back to Bubbles. "Ok."

"Great!" Bubbles happily grabbed him by the wrists, tugging him up off the couch and disrupting Buttercup once more. ("Hey you stole my foot rest!") "Let's get going then."

"Thanks." Boomer mumbled just loud enough for Brick to hear as he passed. Brick nodded solemly before getting up and following them out of the room.

•••***•••

It was a wonder how they had so much space in what seemed to be such a little house. Brick had to admit it was sort of cool, but not by much cause that would mean admitting that the girls had good taste, which they didn't.

He had seen Bubbles's room earlier so that was bypassed as was Buttercup's, which was next to it an thoroughly covered in caution tape, beware, and biohazard signs, though it was pointed out. There was also the colossus living room that he could have sworn was at least the size of a basketball court.

After leading them down the hall, just outside the living room and past her bedroom, Bubbles showed the boys to what could only be described as an average sized dance studio. It looked pretty simple with it's mirrored walls and hard wood flooring.

After that came a large weight room that would have left Butch drooling over the vast array of equipment within even if it wasn't quite like the one they had seen the previous day. Whoever had designed it must have known what they were doing since nothing in the room seemed particularly crammed together even though it was on the more cluttered side.

There was a door at the end of the hall that he had noticed but Bubbles seemed happy to avoid it so he didn't question. He could always check it out later, after all, the redheaded Puff wasn't around to worry about and no one else paid him any mind.

Back down the hall they passed the girls rooms again before turning down another hall. Brick recognized it as the one they had passed through when leaving the rooms with the simulators. The few doors between the hall and there were confirmed to be the large robotics room he had seen the first time ("Boomer get the fuck out of here before I trash your room when we get back!") and an infirmary.

Now the robotics room wasn't very interesting but Brick couldn't help being drawn into the medical room. He had stayed there for a while, poking around at various things before spying a large blood red laptop lying oh so innocently on the wide desk in the back. The red Ruff was mildly irked when the blue Puff had snatched it up before he could get his hands on it murmuring about how absentminded her sister could be.

There was yet another door at the far end of this hall but unlike the previous one Bubbles seemed to avoid this one like a plague. He would definitely be checking that one out later.

Backtracking once again they passed the living room once more and headed down the hall in the opposite direction where Bubbles pointed out Blossom's room. After that was a sharp turn that lead to an enormous bathroom.

Brick couldn't help but gawk for a moment, an amused glance from Bubbles had him straightening back up though. That, he had to admit, was a nice room. Bleached white tiles decorated the floors and walls highlighted by the occasional cherry red, sea-foam green, and aqua blue. The bathtub is what had his attention though, it was huge. Like mini swimming pool or large jacuzzi huge. There were three ivory white steps leading up to and surrounding the porcelain behemoth that melded into the back and side walls. There was even a closet in the wall behind the door that housed a very expensive, if looks were anything to go by, washing machine/ dryer.

Further down the hall they came to a homely kitchen, decorated with a strawberry, blueberry, and green apple theme. To the left of the doorway was a large kitchen table, oak wood Bubbles proudly stated, a little behind that was a door to the garage. On the right side was a doorway back to the living room.

It was a bit feminine looking for his taste but Boomer immediately fell in love with the little island in the center. It had a blue marbled counter, high seated barstools, and a glass holding rack over head that housed wine glasses and ice-cream cups. It wasn't very hard to tell that one of the girls collected glass items with the vast array he had seen spotted throughout the house.

After all of those things were looked over Brick was surprised to find that the girls still had an upstairs section of house to go through. With all the things he had already seen it was a miracle they hadn't gone bankrupt. As it turned out the upstairs looked a lot more normal with a more suburban retro feel to it.

The underground sections entrance was concealed as a broom closet beneath the staircase, behind a false wall no less, and contained at least two stories between them. From there he could see the front door, living room to the left of it, and kitchen to the right. Towards the back was a medium sized room that had been converted into a library just behind the staircase. Across from that was a bathroom and between them was more or less an empty room with a few comfortable looking couches and chairs.

Through this room was a back door leading to a wide patio area which mildly surprised the Ruff. Being that the front of the house gave off the impression of it being built into the mountain side he hadn't expected anything to be at the back.

As it was their 'back yard' looked more like a crater blasted into a mountain. High ridges continued on in either direction like an impenetrable wall. According to Bubbles it was bowl shaped and encompassed enough area to hold a variety of habitats with the exception of the more extreme ones. Turns out the old man Utonium had bought it in his younger years to house some of the animals he studied. Bubbles made it absolutely clear that there was no animal experimentation going on though, or at least nothing that caused the animals distress or changed their physical or genetic make up.

By that time she had begun rambling about how mean the Professor had been to tease some rabbit into running faster for a bunch of carrots or made some mouse run a maze for cheese. Brick had gotten bored and slunk off to check out the upstairs of the house. The first room had been colored a dark green, obviously Buttercup's work, next was a bathroom, then a blue themed room, a plain white room and finally a red themed room just over the kitchen.

He took his time to explore this one, it was fairly standard and creepily similar to his own room that 'Mojo' had decorated. It was while he poked around this room that Butch found him once more.

"Kinda creepy how much it looks like our place huh?" Butch stated, casually leaning against the door frame.

"Yah." Brick grunted, tugging at a drawer built into the bed frame. "More than that, don't you find it the least bit suspicious that they've been so buddy-buddy with us? Especially Mojo, we're supposed to be enemy's and suddenly he's so…"

"Friendly?" Butch provided, stepping into the room he plopped down on the bed lying back. "Look man, I know you don't like them and you've got every right not to." Butch spoke quickly, not letting Brick interrupt. "They've been pains in our asses since day one. They did nothing but fight us but if you really think about it it was always our own faults. Wasn't it?"

Brick knew he hadn't meant it as a question, it was a statement and a true one at that. For once he couldn't figure out what his brother was thinking. For Boomer it wasn't too odd, no one ever truly knew what the blond had going through that head of his. Butch was another matter entirely, the boy was like an open book, he wore his emotions on his sleeve and never bothered to hide anything so it was rare to have to wonder what he was thinking.

"Look, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's been a long time since we last saw them. We're not little kids anymore, and I've experienced several questionable moments to prove that point." Butch waved his hand in the air for that before rolling onto his side to watch Brick who was getting very mad very fast at the drawer that wouldn't open. "Im not saying that you have to trust them cause I know that's not gonna happen but we're obviously gonna be spending a lot of time with em so can't you at least loosen up a little?"

Having already deemed Butch's little speech a waste of effort on his part Brick simply shot a glare at his brother.

…

"You done glarin at me yet?" Butch asked bored, for once not the least bit intimidated by his elder brothers harsh gaze. "You may fool everybody else with that look but you don't fool me or Boomer. I know you just don't like trusting people, especially after whatever it was that happened to ya way back when, speaking of which I still wanna know what happened and I'll keep bugging you till ya tell me."

For the first time in a long time Brick was speechless. He didn't know how to respond to that. Apparently having already said what he intended Butch decided to up and leave but not before kicking the bottom of the bed post. The drawer Brick was now limply tugging at popped open just as the raven disappeared around the door frame leaving the redhead to his thoughts.

'What just happened?…The world is coming to an end…Butch is making sense…'

•••***•••

It was so much fun having people over, Bubbles couldn't help but hum happily to herself. Sure it was nice having Mitch over all the time but it just wasn't quite the same. He was more like a permanent guest that they never got rid of or a roommate that occasionally went beck home. Having the boys over was another matter entirely, they seemed to bring excitement into every room they stepped in. Bubbles could honestly say that it was a nice change.

Buttercup was always loud and Mitch was just as hyper as ever but adding Butch into the mix just made them look more comfortable even as the three wrestled over snacks and video games.

Boomer was especially nice to have around. Sure he was shy, didn't talk much, and occasionally flinched when she looked at him but she'd be darned if she didn't admit it was cute, like a nervous bunny. He was also very helpful, especially now with dinner getting close.

Friday nights were always a hassle since it was her night to cook, Bubbles didn't mind cooking but Buttercup usually invited a bunch of friends over leaving her to cook for all of them. Having the boys over was a little bit harder though since she had no idea what they did or didn't eat. Luckily Boomer was there for just that.

Together they had decided on sloppy joes. Things just kept adding on from there until Bubbles found herself mixing potato salad and several different spices while Boomer deep-fried potatoes and mozzarella sticks for side dishes.

"Hey Boomer, you think this is enough?" Bubbles asked curiously as she set down a fifth plate of french-fries and mozzarella sticks on the table. "Mitch get out of the kitchen!"

"Yah." Boomer yelped, spinning around just as Mitch ducked out, narrowly avoiding the spoon that nearly collided with his head. "Honestly I though it was enough after the third plate."

Bubbles giggled at this before walking over to him. The boy twitched a little when she got closer but calmed back down when she grabbed the pot of meat and sauce off the stove.

"Why do you flinch so much?" Bubbles questioned, she glanced up at him eyes wide with curiosity. "I'm not gonna bite you know."

Boomer flushed a bright pink, looking everywhere but at her. He seemed even more nervous than before if that was possible.

"I, I, well I'm-" sighing loudly, Boomer dragged a hand down his face before pausing to nibble on his thumb nail. In a quiet voice he continued meekly, "I'm not much of a people person…"

"How come? You seemed like the type that thrive off of attention before."

"Not really, Butch likes attention, not me." the color in his cheeks dimmed a little as he looked away. "Besides, being around normal humans, it always ends bad."

Bubbles tilted her head slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of his face. The boy sounded so dejected and sad and vulnerable it almost hurt. Bubbles wanted to ask him about it but would he tell her or was she presuming too much? This was the first time they had spoken to each other, really talked, in years. He probably wouldn't feel very comfortable.

"Can we eat yet?" Mitch whined, she could see him in the doorway eyeing the plates of food like it was a mountain of gold. "I'm starving to death out here!"

"Go call the others." Bubbles sighed wearily. "And don't forget to wash your hands before you come back this time!"

•••***•••

'Oh yah! This is heaven. Oh sweet ambrosia how I worship thee!'

Sloppy Joe mix seeped through his fingers as Mitch took another large bite. Stuffing French fries into his mouth he only half buried himself into his food. When no one was paying attention the brunet would steal glances around the room.

The arrangement of things were so weird. Less than twelve hours ago Buttercup had been complaining about the Rowdyruffs and avoiding them like the plague. Bubbles, he was pretty sure, didn't even know they existed around the school. And now here they were, sitting together eating dinner like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Bubbles was seated next to Boomer who was as red as a tomato and about as interesting as one too. The blond boy just sat there letting her talk and not making a sound. The only thing that told Mitch he was even alive was the fact that he was still occasionally nibbling on his food.

Brick was a little unnerving to be around, especially since Mitch was sitting right next to him. The darn kid kept glaring at his food as if by doing so he could scare it into running away. After trying to get him to talk for nearly ten minutes they had all given up.

The weirdest thing by far was Buttercup and Butch though. From what he knew of Butch it wasn't so weird but for Buttercup, whom had been avoiding the guy like a leper, to be so casual all of a sudden was odd.

'I've known her for years, there's no way she would pull a 180 like that unless something happened. The question is what?' Stuffing the rest of his tenth sloppy Joe into his mouth, Mitch licked the sauce off his fingers. 'Probably has something to do with Bloss and Mojo disappearing. I just hope it docent turn out like last time. That girl- OOHH I JUST FOUND DESSERT!'

"Aaah! Down boy!" Bubbles squeaked, swatting the brunet with a large spoon as he reached for the tub of ice-cream. "Not yet!"

•••***•••

"Ouch… I think I have a lump on my head." Mitch frowned, running his fingers through his hair, wincing a little. "It feels like I have a lump on my head."

"Well Blondie did hit you pretty hard." Butch said, not really paying attention as he leaned from side to side, focusing on the video game.

"Let me see." Buttercup paused the game ("Hey! I was finally winning!") getting off the sofa and walking over to Mitch.

Mitch complied leaning forward into her hand for inspection without a second thought. Running her fingers through the brunettes dark locks Buttercup felt lightly around the area he had indicated. Finding a slight bump she pressed down on the spot.

"Oww!" Mitch yelped, jumping away from her. "What was that for?!"

"Yep." Buttercup shrugged, a slight smirk on her lips as she returned to her game. "It's a lump."

"You didn't have to press it!" Mitch grumbled, folding his arms across his chest, watching her from the corner of his eye as she settled back against the pile of pillows propped against the green Ruff. "…"

"Stop starring at me." Buttercup didn't turn in the least, looking entirely focused on the video game.

"Why would I be starring at you?" Butch huffed down at her, tearing his eyes from the screen for a second before turning back.

"Not you bozo." Buttercup snapped, flicking her head in Mitch's direction. "Talkin to him."

"Oh, did you wanna play?" Butch asked, looking up from the game just in time to get his character killed by Buttercup, he took a moment to send her a glare. "Not as fun when someone keeps cheating."

"Not cheating. You suck." Buttercup stuck her tongue at him, not the least bit fazed when he clicked his teeth at her. Turning back to Mitch again she scowled. "What? Your still starring."

Mitch blinked, giving her a pointed look, glancing between the two ravens. Buttercup raised an eyebrow at him looking confused.

"Oh heck no!" Her face twisted from confused to shocked to disgust in a matter of seconds.

"We'll what am I supposed to think?" Mitch shrugged.

"Not that!"

"We'll take a look around and tell me that again." Mitch nodded at them, leaning back into his love seat. "I know you BC, your not comfortable around just anyone."

"I've got my reasons."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"Ugh, question?" Butch raised his hand, frowning when the two completely ignored him.

"Know how we weren't in class today?"

"Yah."

"Told ya why Bloss is out?"

"Wait! We're you-?!" Mitch sat up straight, mouth wide as he pointed at the two of them. "You mean-?!"

"Exactly."

"What happened?"

Buttercup gave him a look that someone only gives to people that ask particularly stupid questions.

"Ugh… right…" Mitch grinned sheepishly.

Butch frowned, irritated by the vagueness of the conversation. More than a little ticked that the two were obviously talking that way so that he wouldn't understand. Did they think he was stupid? Mitch obviously did if he thought for a second that Butch missed the little knowing glances he kept 'sneaking' while they talked.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they were referring to the incident at that warehouse he and Buttercup had found earlier in the day. Apparently Blossoms disappearance somehow tied into all that as well. She had asked a lot of questions before she left, so maybe she was checking the place out. That was normal 'superhero' junk wasn't it? Why would they have to keep that a secret?

"…So you two are all buddy buddy now?" Mitch was saying as Butch slowly tuned back into the conversation. "Or has he been demoted like the rest of us?"

"Demoted." Buttercup grinned sadistically, kicking back and lounging across her counterpart.

"The fuck you talkin about, demoted?" Butch eyed the girl.

"Means your my newest pet." She shifted, making herself comfortable.

"Welcome to the club." Mitch smiled sarcastically, throwing his hands into the air as if he were cheering tossing himself on the chair. "Come for the rare smiles, stay for the abuse."

"You got some weird kink I should know about?" Butch gave the girl across his lap a lecherous smirk.

"Not for you." Buttercup snorted, elbowing him in the gut. Grabbing the soda bottle on the floor beside her she drank some before handing it to Mitch. "Drink the rest and get another one would ya."

"See what I mean?" Mitch downed the last of the bottle, getting up and walking to the kitchen. "Don't I at least get a please or thank you?"

"No."

"I feel so loved…"

"All warm an fuzzy."

"Like a porcupine…"

"Bad Romance, deal with it."

"By the way," Butch kicked back, watching Buttercup finish off the game as Mitch disappeared into the kitchen. "Mojo said we had to stay here for the night, so does that mean we get those rooms upstairs?"

"Yep."

"What about school tomorrow?"

"What about it?"

"Don't we have to go?"

"Didn't you hear Bloss? She said not to leave the house." Buttercup saved the game, starting up a new round so that the boys could play again. "Even Mojo told you to stay so we are."

"So we don't have to go to school?"

"Nope."

"Cool." Butch shrugged. He was fine with skipping, not like he wanted to be there in the first place. "But what about clothes? Got all sweaty during that game thing. No way am I sleeping smelling like a skunk."

"Really now?" Buttercup sat up, a teasing glint in her emerald eyes. "Thought you of all people would enjoy living like a pig."

"Oh hell no." Butch swat at her lightly. "Showers are my me time."

"You make that sound dirty." Buttercup fake gagged at the tone he used. "What do you do in there?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Butch smirked, giving her another perverted look just to tease her. "Gutter brain."

"Of course. Now get out of the way, your blocking my light." Buttercup leaned back against the arm rest, kicking him off sofa.

"Still didn't answer the clothes question." Butch glared, snatching the soda bottle from Mitch as he returned before Buttercup could get it.

"You can borrow some." Mitch answered, taking the soda back for himself, dodging as the raven girl grabbed for it. "Or have Bubbles make some if we really have to."

"Sound cool with me." Butch shrugged again, slapping Buttercups legs of the chair as he tried to sit back down, still ending up on one of her feet. "Will you move?!"

"No, it my chair. Your in my space."

"Didn't your sister say you had to be nice?"

"Do I look like the nice type?"

"No, you look like a gorilla in cargo pant- OWW YOU BITCH!"

"Hahahahaha- OWW! You wanna play like that huh?"

"Bring it, bug eyes!"

"Its gonna be a loooong night…" Mitch sighed, shaking his head and moving the table and any other easily breakable objects away from the fighting greens. "Wonder how the other two are doing?"

•••***•••

Vroom… vroom… vroom, vroom!

Like shadows at midnight a dark silhouette snaked it's way down the deserted winding roads. The full moon cast no light to the pitch black pavement nor were there lamp posts for miles leaving the eery red of tail lights to stream and flash as it pleased.

The rev of the engine slowed casting the echoes of the forest into deafening silence. Releasing the gas handle the motorcycles velocity kept it racing as the bike turned down the paved drive. Slowing to a crawl it finally stopped just outside the garage doors of the Powerpuffs home.

Getting off the bike, a dark figure opened the doors and pulled it inside.

•••000•••

I did say I didn't like this chapter and I came back to redo some of it. I realized that what was wrong with it was mostly the fact that the last section wasn't supposed to be there. It was the beginning for the next chapter not the ending for this one but since most of you have seen it already I'm just going to leave it.

Like most of my work I still feel like I'm rushing things but I'm also getting sick of hovering around details, as Mojo put it, like a skittish feline. I originally wanted to make it mysterious an keep you guys guessing for a while but since several of you already got the answers I'm just going to go ahead an write however I please regardless of that.

An just so I don't throw anyone off the reason I never put any character names in the listings is because its going to be a scattered plot. The main focus will be the PPG and RRB but will occasionally get chapters that don't have them appear often. Just wanted to let you guys know since a few of those are coming up as soon as I get a better set on my characters personalities.

By the way I'd like to thank you for your ideas, I haven't used them yet but they'll be coming in the future. So thanks 'becomingemo' for the mountain idea, I might switch it up a bit though an combine it with 'The Water Nymph's idea though. I'd also be interested in those songs you mentioned 'Geny-darkside16'.

An on another note, if you're reading this 'cookies' I really wish you would stop reviewing anonymous. Your everywhere and I'd be darned if I didn't want to thank you for hanging around for so long. I'd also like to bounce a few ideas off you every now and again but I can never talk to you. Since I'm down to the last of my prewritten chapters I'd need the help now more than ever so it'd be very much appreciated.

Thanks for reading guys, an thanks for hanging around so long, even if I don't give a mention or reply back in some way I just want you to know that I read each and every review you all leave behind. ^_^


	14. PR14: Lock Down

PR 14: Lock Down

Ok I realized that I never fully explained things in this story, only ever spoke to individuals that actually reviewed. So I'm gonna say a few things that I find important to know.

First of all I hate all that sparkles and sunshine and rainbow crappin butterflies shit. I'm not writing some story where their all innocent little angels cause as my own personal saying goes "The horns hold up the halo." They are not gonna be saving every little bug that decides to fly by. They aren't gonna help every single person that asks for it. I'm looking at this from a realistic view point, they can't save everyone, they won't always do the right thing, THEY HAVE FLAWS!

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not, I repeat NOT, going to turn the good guys into mass murdering psychopaths or anything like that. They aren't gonna go around hurting innocent people for fun or any shit like that but that docent mean their gonna be following all the rules like little saints. There's no such thing in my opinion, everyone has a dark side, everyone makes mistakes, nobody's perfect no matter how hard they try to be.

With that said, anyone that wants to complain about how 'They're the Powerpuffs girls, they can't do that' or 'The girls would never do something like that' or the most annoying of all the 'the girls wouldnt do that, you have to change it' they can all shove it cause I don't give a rip. You can grumble about it all you want and maybe I'll read them but if I don't feel like changing those particular things you dislike I'm not gonna change it.

I've had enough of those flamers grumbling and trying to bully or argue or spam others into changing their work into ways they see more fitting and I'm sick of it. You guys can spam and bash all you want but if I decide to write my characters a certain way and like it, guess what, I'm gonna keep it that way. Then again, who knows, maybe I'll agree with you and change it or not who knows.

I'd also like to remind all of you that I am a dark writer for a reason. I know the story had been more or less upbeat so far but things are about to get dark. Some questions are gonna be answered, some now ones are gonna pop up but more than any of that, the shit is finally gonna hit the fan. So if y'all don't like blood or gore and all that jazz ya better be leavin now.

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything. I want a cookie…

•••000•••

Clack clack, clink, clack clack.

Bleary green eyes open, shifting around randomly before settling as the teen recalls where he was. Forcing himself up, Butch rubbed at his eyes trying to figure out what had woken him in the first place.

The clatter of shifting glass ring dimly through the room. The sounds so soft normal ears wouldn't even notice it.

'Ugh… do I even want to know… its probably one of the girls or something…'

Deciding to ignore it the raven teen flopped back onto the bed in the room he had been given for the night. Yawning loudly he rolled over facing the wall, settling back to sleep.

A sudden crash of shattering glass followed by a muffled curse woke him back up just as the fringes of sleep seeped over his consciousness. Green orbs snapped back open to glare viciously at the wall.

'Grr…whoevers out there better have a damn good reason to be wakin me up at this time!'

Rolling off the bed, Butch hovered just off the floor. Thankful that he had sneakily fitted the chip into his collar and could take it off at will. Turning the door knob he slipped into the hall just in time to spot his brothers making their way down the stairs.

While Boomer looked groggy and ready to pass out at any second, Brick was obviously wide awake and annoyed.

'Guess I'm not the only one…whatever.'

Reaching the bottom of the stairs the three crept, well Brick crept Boomer stumbled and Butch float, silently over to the kitchen door way.

The sound of scraping glass clattered together, soft thuds followed as Butch could only guess the person was throwing the glass into the trash. The clattering of what he could now distinguish as bottles resumed as they peered into the kitchen.

A tall black clad figure stood just beside the window, sifting through the upper shelves of one of the cabinets. With what he could only describe as a grateful sigh, the person pulled down a tall slim bottle, popped it open and tanked down the contents.

Butch found himself blinded, his advanced eyesight making his head scream in agony as Boomer suddenly flicked on the lights.

"Who the Hell are you and what are you doing?" Brick demanded, his voice a low threatening growl.

Vision returning, Butch caught sight of the person for the first time. Whoever it was was rather tall, probably around Boomer's height of 5'11 though not nearly as large. If it was a girl as he seemed to believe, she had pretty good taste in clothes.

A jet black jacket covered the top half, it's back embroidered with a nine tailed fox snarling ferociously. It's fangs and claws dripping in blood as it bared it's teeth beneath the full moon. The bottom was more plane, baggy black jeans with a studded belt and combat boots.

This person was either stupid, insane, had a death wish, or possibly all three, completely brushing Brick off with a non committed snort and tipping the bottle back into the air. Well the girl had guts, he'd give her that before she died.

"Forgot you guys were here… whatever." the bell like voice reached them just as the light sent of alcohol, copper and strawberries reached his nose. Butch stood there, trying to match a face to the voice, it sounded so familiar yet so very foreign at the same time. "Go back to sleep, it's not like I'm entertainment or something so get lost."

"Is that alcohol?" Boomer asked, quietly snuffing the air.

"Maybe, what's it to ya?" With one last gulp, the bottle was tossed haphazardly into the trash. Turning around the shorter girl stalked over, rudely brushing past them. Butch was shocked to find that she possessed the strength to do so as she practically shoved him out of the way.

Something warm and wet smeared across his arm as she brushed past him. Looking down Butch was alarmed to find a faint trace of red on his arm and spotted along the floor. It looked eerily like blood…

•••***•••

It took what felt like forever before Brick could finally convince his brother to go back to sleep. Boomer was still half out of it and didn't put up much of a fight. Butch on the other hand was much more difficult to persuade. He had seen the blood on the floor, some of it was on his arm too but even he had given up after a while.

He had complied far too quickly for the reds liking though. Knowing Butch the boy was probably just playing passive and would follow the first chance he got. Brick would have to keep an eye out for that one.

After making sure they had at least gone back to their rooms the red followed the trail of crimson liquid down to the basement door. Stepping into the small room inside he closed the door behind him looking for the glow of the hidden key pad and punching in the number code Buttercup had them memorize.

He waited a few moments after the door had opened for his eyes to adjust to the dark area. The green lava lamps illuminated the room just enough for him to distinguish the dark spots on the white carpet. There were only a few now that led to the left and over the railing towards the kitchen.

Hopping the rail Brick landed in the doorway only to slip on a puddle. Landing on his ass he groaned irritably, rubbing his sore spot. He spit out a few choice curses as he got back up.

His quickly straightened upon seeing the now distinguishable trail along the floor and smears on the wall leading down the hall. Picking up his pace, Brick zipped down the hall, following the trail of blood to a steel door. The infirmary if he remembered correctly.

Stabbing in the code once more, Brick waited impatiently for the door to open. What awaited him wasn't the least bit comforting.

He had known who she was from the second she had opened her mouth, how could he ever not know that voice, had known something was wrong from the moment he had seen the blood. This was more than he expected though, far more.

It looked like someone had dragged a bleeding carcass along the floors, there was that much blood. The surfaces of the tables were smeared with the stuff and so were a few cabinets, the room looked like the set of some horror move who's producer had gone overboard with the decor.

"Shit!" A large bottle came flying across the room, white pills spilling from it's open mouth.

Brick managed to catch it just before it hit the wall, wayward tablets plopping onto the bloody puddles.

"Whada ya want?" following the angry growls and trails of blood to the far back corner of the room he paused.

A pair of black jeans legs stretched along the floor just behind the desk. Dreading what he might find Brick peeked slowly around the large desk.

Piercing magenta bore into him, promises of pain and torment swimming through haunted orbs. This definitely wasn't the girl he usually dealt with, the cool calculative redhead he was used to was long gone.

Slumped against one of the desks drawers, lying in a pool of her own blood was none other than Blossom. The jacket she had been using was now a crumpled wad at her feet soaking up blood like a sponge. Fiery ember hair lay limp and tangled, tattered remnants of her shirt hanging off her frame. Blood trailed down her body in rivulets snaking across her left side.

With a sort of morbid fascination he watched one of the drops slide down from her hair line, meeting up with another it snaked down the pale flesh of her neck. He stared as it glittered over her collar bone before disappearing into cleavage.

"If your just gonna stand around starring get lost!" Blossom snarled, not caring about the blood she literally spat in doing so. Grasping something small and white in her hand she shifted, turning away and bringing her palm to her face.

Without thinking Brick shot forward, grasping at her wrist. A sharp tug sent a couple of small white tablets skittering across the floor.

"The fuck-?!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Brick snapped, tightening his grip on her wrists. "I though you were the good guy so what the fuck are you doin over here chugging vodka like a dehydrated fish and poppin pills like their fucking tick-tacks?!"

"It's not vodka dumb ass!" Blossom snapped back.

"But your still trying to swallow pills! And don't even try to bull shit me, I can smell the alcohol from here!"

"Their pain killers-" she broke into a series of wet hacking coughs, entire body shuddering from the effort. Gasping for air, Blossom snatched her wrists back. "You know what, think whatever you want. I don't care."

Brick didn't know what to think, he didn't know what to do. Butch was right, this wasn't the same person he had known so long ago. This wasn't the little girl he had so often picked fights with as a kid. To further prove his point, Blossom forced herself up on wobbly legs, shoving him away with more strength than he would expect from the obviously anemic girl.

Not quite sure on how to deal with the situation Brick watched as Blossom stumbled her way to the closest of the examination tables. Leaning heavily against it she fumbled with one of the cabinets, pulling a large clear bottle out.

Plucking the top off she poured the entirety of it's contents over herself. Brick could hear her growl, a deep yet high sound rumbling in her throat as the liquid washed away the blood. The strong smell of rubbing alcohol burned into his nose making him cringe as he took in the sight of her left side for the first time.

It was no wonder the girl had done it, he would be drinking himself into a drunken stupor if he were in her position. Heck he doubted he would even be able to move.

She was mangled. And that was an understatement.

Her left arm looked like someone had sliced it with a rusted butchers knife then burned it with hot irons.

Her waist was even worse. Just below the ribs he could see what looked like a series of bite marks, the blackened flesh oozing blood like a broken hose. Over that was a series of deep set lacerations that were turning a very unhealthy shade of purple.

Brick let out a strangled yelp when she tore the remnants of her shirt off, unbuckled her jeans and let them drop to the floor without the slightest bit of embarrassment.

"Wha- what are you-?" he hardly had the time finish before she suddenly hissed, collapsing onto the table and clutching at her thigh.

Brick should have simply walked away, he hated this girl with every fiber of his being. The sole purpose of his existence was to destroy her. He was made to enjoy her suffering, to inflict pain upon her and laugh as she squirmed.

So why was it that he found no amusement from this situation? Why wasn't he enjoying her pain and laughing at her discomfort? Why wasn't he attacking her or trying to kill her? Why was he suddenly angry? So what if the pain inflicted had been by hands that were not his own. A wound was a wound no matter where it came from.

More than any of that, why did his legs carry him to her side?

•••***•••

Grinding her teeth, Blossom tried her hardest to subdue the searing pain erupting from her entire left side.

This wasn't anything new, pain had become a very familiar feeling throughout her lifetime. It was like a drug, the more you take it the less it affects you. But that didn't stop it entirely, especially considering where these particular ones had been acquired. The memories from hours prior were just the distraction she needed to drown out the pain if only for a moment.

Collecting her wits about her, the redhead was surprised, when the pain had dulled to a light throb, to find a hand, not her own, pressed against her side.

She faintly recalled that someone had indeed been here with her. Who it was though was another matter entirely, the coherent portion of her brain wasn't quite working right at the moment blinking on and off with large gaps of darkness in between. Not a good thing at all, with the rate she was going she would pass out completely. If that happened… she couldn't let that happen… not if there was someone nearby… not at all.

It wasn't the priority at the moment though. What was important was getting those damn fangs out of her side, and pulling out all those metal bits from her leg and arm. Staying conscious was useless if she was hurting the whole time.

Every time she moved they would rub against one another and cause more pain than she would have felt otherwise considering that a few were rubbing the tendons. Once those were gone, then she could worry about who the heck was touching her. Besides, the hands were being gentle and didn't seem to pose a threat. On the contrary, they were rather soothing at the moment… yah, they could definitely stay until later.

•••***•••

He wasn't sure what was going on anymore. The tense and pained Blossom suddenly went slack before him, flopping over the table in a boneless heap.

Using her good arm she pulled some kind of tongs or tweezers out of seemingly nowhere. A moment later the girl was tearing into the muscle of her shoulder with the tool, widening the wounds.

'What is wrong with this chick?' Brick mentally screamed, he just couldn't follow her train of thought. It was all over the place. One minute she was fine the next she's self mutilating.

"What is wrong with you? Are you trying to hurt yourself?" His hands shot out, snatching the tool from her.

"Needa get them out." Blossom mumbled casting a weird look over her shoulder. Something was different about her, he was beginning to notice but he couldn't place his finger on what it was.

It took his brain a few seconds to process her words and when it did he glanced at her wound. Blinking rapidly his red irises flashed black, the pupils turning paper white as he peered through the tissue with x-ray eyes. It was a good thing he had left his hat with that chip on the nightstand or he was sure he wouldn't have been able to do that.

Little flecks of silver began to appear decorating the tears in her upper arm. With a little reluctance, he grabbed her, holding the arm still as he worked the tweezer into her flesh.

She cringed, wriggling slightly in his grasp, a high pitched whine piercing the air. If he had been paying attention to anything other than her wound he may have noticed Blossom's magenta orbs flash or the way her hair seemed to move of it's own free will along the sides of her head and lower back.

As it was, Brick was preoccupied though, absorbed in his task of removing each bit of metal. Moving on to her side he pulled out a set of large fangs. Marveling at the sheer size of them. It was like nothing he had ever seen before.

Now came the awkward part. Reaching down Brick grabbed the outer edge of her thigh, ignoring how soft it felt against his calloused palm in favor of glaring at her as she growled at him. Growling louder, she bared her teeth, k-9's surprisingly sharp.

He waited a while for her to calm back down. Once he grew impatient Brick let out a growl of his own, glaring at her, a very obvious warning for her to stop. It backfired, if anything his efforts only proved to irk her more the low growls now nearer to snarls.

"Blossom." He growled, irritated at how ridiculous she was being.

She made an odd, squeaky, chattering noise then blinked once before settling down, glaring all the while but at least she had stopped growling.

She was still a little tense but put up no fight as he moved her leg so he could better reach the metal bits. Shifting a bit he moved the flesh around until the metal shone bright in the muscle. Pulling out a particularly large piece he watched it fall with a dull 'clink' into the small pile beside her.

'Ok, I've had some crap jammed under my skin before but this is ridiculous.' eyeing the pile of metal and fangs he began to wonder just how she had gotten all of it in the first place.

"So… wanna tell me who ya got your ass kicked from?" Brick asked, returning to his previous task. "Not that I care, I'd just like to thank em if I ever get the chance."

She just continued glaring, not that he really expected a reply anyway. The room fell silent once more, the only sounds remaining was the occasional soft 'plink' of falling metal. Finally turning away Blossom folded her arms before her and lay against them.

"Meteor Shower."

"What?" Brick jumped, startled that she had actually spoken. The tweezers slipped in his hand causing Blossom to hiss as it pinched the raw muscle. "Ops."

When she was done hissing at him she turned away once more, huffing loudly. "It's a type of advanced weaponry. The beam it shoots creates acceleration in the surrounding particles causing massive burning to the target. After that it shoots off a cluster of spikes, created from a variety of different materials, depending on the target."

"Uh-hu…" She twitched again as he pulled on a particularly stubborn piece. "So you got shot huh? Surprised your not crying."

"I don't cry."

"Course you do. You used to cry all the time."

"No… crying gets you nowhere."

"Ok, who are ya and what have you done with my pink bitch of a counterpart?" Brick questioned, half serious. Pulling out one last piece of metal he dropped it into the pile.

She turned back, starring him straight in the eye. She didn't need to answer, that one look spoke volumes. For once he looked, really looked, at the dark magenta, so different from the rose pink that he remembered. This wasn't the innocent brat that thought she knew everything, the kid that believed she could save the world and make some utopia where everyone could live happily ever after or some shit like that.

This was a person that had seen the horrors the world had to offer. Someone who had witnessed first hand what evil was capable of and would fight, tooth and nail to protect what she cared about.

Brick watched as she shifted past him, reaching into the cabinet for a another bottle of rubbing alchohol. This time she let out a high pitched whine as she poured it into the still bleeding wounds. Brick cringed in sympathy, he could literally hear the hiss as it foamed, bubbling pink as it mixed with her blood.

"You know you still didn't answer my question."

He made a point of not looking at her as she dug around the cabinets contents again. The situation was bad enough without him being accused of starring at her or some shit like that while she pranced around half naked like it didn't bother her in the least.

Not to mention he was still kicking himself in the ass for helping her at all. To think that he had willingly helped her and was even being semi nice, or at least not making things worse, while he could easily pick her off in her weakened state. There was something definitely wrong here, especially considering that he was certain she was ignoring him again and he wasn't trying to pick a fight over it.

If there was one thing Brick hated more than Blossom it was being ignored, Blossom ignoring him? He should be throwing a total bitch fit right about now, yet here he was, quietly questioning her… he should probably have his brain scanned for possible damage later…

"Which question?" Blossom asked, fiddling with some sort of thin container. Popping it open she grabbed up one of an assortment of syringes and stuck it into her side directly next to the purpled flesh before the red Ruff could say anything about it. "You've asked several questions."

Brick scowled, waiting just long enough for her to remove the needle before taking it from her along with the container. Seriously, he takes his eyes off her for a moment and this again. She was worse than Butch.

"The one about where you got these from." Brick gestured to her maimed side, snatching up the gauze lying on the table and angrily wrapping it around her before she could do some other stupid shit when his back was turned.

"Can't answer that." Blossom hummed, surprisingly compliant as he tightened the white material.

"And why the hell not?" Brick growled, he had expected at least some form of reluctance, not for her to hold still. "I think I deserve some sort of explanation since I'm helping you."

"Telling you would entail divulging information I'm not at liberty to speak on at this time."

"Bullshit," he mumbled under his breath knowing she could hear, but for whatever reason she didn't respond. "Could you at least say what you got it from? Wait, don't tell me, you can't say that either huh?"

Blossom turned her head slightly, confirming that, no, she would not answer that question either.

"What about that crap you were drinking earlier?" Brick huffed, growing annoyed as he moved on to wrap her torso as well. "I don't care how many times you say it wasn't it smelled like alcohol."

"It was an iron supplement to raise blood cell count."

"Uh-hu…" he didn't believe that for a moment.

"Alcoholic based to enable faster reaction time."

Now that he might believe. Cutting the ends of the wrap he tied them off. Now came the awkward part…Not quite knowing how to set about this Brick debated just letting her finish bandaging herself up on her own, to hell if she decided to do some other shit to herself.

He glanced between the bleached white bandages in his hand and the several pill bottles he had already snatched from her during the process of simply wrapping her arm and side. Where the heck was she even getting them?

'Damn it all!' He frowned, he didn't doubt that she would be grabbing for them again if he turned away for a second. Stupid girl would probably overdose herself on something and seeing as he was the last one to be near her he would most definitely get pinned with the blame. 'Freaking stupid Powerpuff…'

Her explanation of the bottle had run out some time ago now and the silence in the room was quickly becoming uncomfortable. He still wasn't willing to say anything though, not that he knew what to say anyway.

Something towards the top of her head caught his attention then, looking up he could only find hair though. With another huff Blossom leaned back down against the table again, saving the boy from his predicament, even if it did present an even more daunting task before him.

Mentally kicking himself in the ass again for being stupid Brick snatched her leg up by the knee, wrapping the bandage as quickly as he could, trying his best to ignore the feel of soft skin on calloused palms.

Could this situation get any worse? That was sarcasm! DON'T get any worse! Please!

"You know, there's a lot of things you haven't answered." Brick continued on, letting his mouth run on autopilot.

"Like…?" Blossom questioned evenly, surprisingly not bothered even when he quite literally just whacked her wound in his haste.

"Well now that I think about it, why are you and Mojo so chummy?"

"Call it a guilty conscience."

"Guilty? Pu-lease." Brick scoffed, scowl deepening when he realized he had tangled the the bandage. "Mojo's never been one to have a guilty conscience."

"Not after what he did…" she mumbled, so quiet he almost didn't hear.

"What about how the two of you seem to disappear at the same time huh?" He questioned, wanting to ask further on the subject but somehow knowing he wouldn't get an answer. "Too much of a coincident to have you both vanish at the same time with similar parting words about staying in one place. Seems too suspicious if you ask me."

"What is with you and all these questions anyway?" Blossom grumbled, folding her arms. "I told all of you as much as I can, if I could say more I would, so can't you just wait?"

"No, I can't, we both know where that wound me up last time." Brick half snarled, knotting the bandage as uncomfortably tight as he could, anger bubbling back up again at the mere thought.

"That wasn't my fault!" She whirled around, glaring at him dead in the eye, knowing exactly what he was referring to.

"I highly doubt that." Brick stated, still pissed but mildly pleased with how much that one sentence had riled the girl up when nothing else had.

"You have no idea what happened back then!" Blossom growled, teeth bared, were her k-9's always that sharp?

"And who's fault is that?"

The rumbling growl grew into a high pitched snarl, usually something he would have laughed at, but coming from her it was oddly unnerving.

He refused to be intimidated though, not backing down an inch as he stepped into her personal space to glare down at her. It was around this time that he noticed the odd set of her eyes again.

The last time he was certain it was just his mind playing tricks on him. Now… he wasn't so sure.

There was only so much he could brush off as accidents or tricks of the mind. The curve of her eyes had shifted again, this time he was quite certain of it. The almond slant that curved down like a cats, the thin diamond slits of her pupils set agains the swirl of red toned colors.

This time he was quite aware of the lightness in his limbs, the foggy haze that clouded his mind, it was all due to his lack of breath. The longer he stared into those darkening orbs the harder it was for him to breath. It felt like he was being suffocated yet she hadn't lain a single finger on him.

His vision began darkening at the edges. If he didn't get some oxygen soon he was sure to pass out.

'Just breath you dumb ass!'

A high pitched shrill snapped him out of whatever spell the Puff had cast. He shook his head, dispelling whatever lasting effects remained as he stepped back away from her. If anything Blossom looked even more mad now, stalking back to the desk he had found her behind, a notable lack of her earlier stumbling.

Dragging the rolling chair back over Blossom plopped down on it, snatching up her blood soaked jacket and wringing out some of the red liquid. Shrugging it back on she hastily wrapped the front close and slapped her hand on the underside of the desk.

A thin wide panel opened up, much like the earlier keypads from that computer room, a bright light flashing out. Brick squint at the blinding white color before it faded into a pitch black as all the other lights clicked off.

Just like that the room erupt into chaotic sounds, nearly deafening the teen. Explosions rang full circle, inhuman shrieks, grunting growls, and loud angry bellows echoing about.

"You ssslimy little ssslug!" A blood chilling hiss roared into the room, monstrous yellow eyes flashing menacingly on the screen. "When I get my handsss on you-!"

"What's going on!" Blossom shouted back over the sound.

"They're everywhere!" The figure screeched, fangs like daggers flashing ivory white into the screen close enough that Brick could almost make out a narrow face. "It'sss a war zone out here!"

"What?!" Blossom jumped out of the chair, leaning into the holographic screen as if the action would allow her a better view from the other side. "That's not possible! I was sure I cleaned them all out, there were only twenty Basilisk and five Hell Hounds total!"

"Well then you didn't finish the job!"

Something exceedingly large landed in the background, the person on screen whipping around with a blinding explosion of acid green light, a howling scream unlike anything Brick had ever heard before and the shadowed thing collapsed, a large portion of it missing.

"There were only nineteen when we got here!" Yellow eyes blurred, slitted pupils dilated, agonized howls and splattering sounds left in its wake, the shadowed figures in the background seeming to literally melt apart in glowing green froth. "There'sss a hoard of rabid'sss now!"

"RABID'S?!" Blossom noticeably palled, the shock apparent on her face. "HOW IN THE SEVEN HELLS ARE THERE POSSIBLY RABID'S?! THOSE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ISOLATED!"

"How the fuck ssshould I know?!" Ivory fangs ducked low towards the screen, the background spinning wildly, Brick thought he caught a glimpse of green tinted skin but he wasn't too sure for the person leaned back away. "We couldn't contain them all! There'sss at least a dozen that breached the border and took off in your direction, they ssshould be ssshowing up on your sssenssorsss any sssecond now!"

As if on cue the steel doors flew open in that instant, grinding angrily as an impatient hand shoved it away.

"We got a problem!" A disheveled Buttercup panted in the doorway, sleep pants sagging low on her waist, loose green sports bra straps hanging from her shoulders. "The alarms on the west side tripped, fifteen heat signatures closing in and FAST!"

"I thought you said only a dozen?!"

"I SSSAID AT LEASSST! YOU CAN'T EXPECT ME TO KEEP TRACK OF THEM ALL IN THE MIDDLE OF A SSSWARM WHILE THEY'RE ALL TRYING TO GORE ME!" The screen flashed green again, a litany of curses and more howling, several more explosions, and a loud booming bellow. "FUCK! ONESSS GOT GATOR!"

A guttural bellow unlike any of the previous ones echoed out agonizingly before the screen went completely blank. The lights chose that moment to flicker back on, the contrasting light blinding, the silence deafening.

"Fuck!" Blossom swore, pounding her fist on the desk revealing a layer of titanium as she splintered the wood.

Faster than he could blink she had him by the wrist and was dragging him out of the room. When everything stopped blurring he found himself surrounded by the Puffs and one jittery brunet at the base of the stairs to the upper level.

"Bloss, what's going on?" Bubbles squeaked, looking nervous.

"There's Rabid's on their way here-"

"Seriously?!" Buttercup interrupted looking both excited and the slightest bit unnerved, only noticeable to the Ruff because the expression was so very similar to Butch. "Wha'do we do?"

"YOU, will go on lock down." Blossom stated firmly.

"What? No!" Buttercup folded her arms defiantly. "I am not hiding while you go out on your own!"

"If they get past me what do you think is going to happen?!" Blossom snapped, snatching Buttercup's loose straps and using it to tug the taller girl almost into her face. "YOU are the next in line! YOU are responsible for everyone! YOU are the one in charge! Who else is going to fill that role? Besides, you're still borderline…"

Buttercup stared down at the angry redhead, a contemplating look on her features. Within seconds it twisted into a frown.

"Fine." She growled, leaning back and away. "But you better come back or I swear…"

"I know, you'll drag my ass back kicking and screaming." Blossom pulled away as well, a grin on her face for all of a second before returning to its grim set.

"You better believe it." Buttercup smirked, turning towards Bubbles. "Come on."

"What about the boys?" Bubbles glanced towards the upstairs section.

"Don't worry, I need you guys to set up the lockdown, it'll take too long if you go after them too." Blossom turned away looking ready to go. "Mitch?"

"Got em!" Mitch grinned, bouncing around on the balls of his feet he cracked his neck from side to side before running up the stairs just as fast, if not faster, than Blossom herself.

Brick didn't have time to question it before they were gone. Not more than a minute went by and the room had new occupants. Butch stumbled in first, looking remarkably calm, probably eavesdropping and got caught. Boomer on the other hand looked like a fish out of water, cradled in Mitch's arms like some kind of messed up princess.

"Good, now come on!" Buttercup called out, waving them to follow, Bubbles already disappearing deeper into the hall behind her.

"Mind telling me what's going on?" Butch shrugged, following after her without much of a fight.

"Not if I can help it." Buttercup replied, winding down the hall towards the section they had steadfast refused showing the boys before.

Bubbles stood in front of the already open door, hand placed firmly on the scanner. The second she caught sight of them though she continued on, a fleeting blur of gold and blue ahead of them.

"And why is that?" Butch nettled persistently.

"Not now!"

They crossed a long hall, the lights flickering on as Bubbles blurred far ahead of them, flashing back off behind them. At the end they came to a screeching stop, Butch literally skidding across the slick floor as they burst into a large room.

Seeing as they had appeared to reached their destination Butch took time to look around. Bubbles stood at the farthest end of the room, something similar to those black visors on her head, though this time the thing strapped over the top of her head, the eye piece a see though blue. She stood on a sort of wide pedestal, dozens of holographic screens floating around her as she practically danced in circles attempting to reach them all.

Buttercup was in a similar situation, seated on a high backed chair that looked a lot like something you'd find in an arcade with dozens of screens all different sizes, that surrounded a large central one in a crescent shape around her. The difference with her was the sleek metal gloves and the dozens of wires surrounding her like a massive tangle of vines beneath the steel grating that acted as a floor.

With all the high tech equipment on the right and back walls the left side of the room look dull in comparison, lines of wall mounted computers and comfy looking rolling chairs. In the center of the room there was a raised oval platform, something he pictured in all futuristic war meetings, a graphic layout of the area spinning in the center. Hanging down from above it was some sort of machine that honestly reminds him of a metal spider, it's many arms reaching out in various directions before curving back up towards the ceiling.

"Cool!" Boomer squeaked in awe, standing before the holographic landscape, very nearly hanging over it.

"I know right." Mitch grinned, prodding at the corner of the platform.

A loud click sounded as one of the metal 'spider legs' unhooked, spinning around during its decent, an egg shaped hanging chair presenting itself on the end.

"Mitch, stop playing around!" Buttercup snapped, not looking up from whatever she was doing. "This is serious."

"I know that!" He grumbled back. "What's the use of panicking though? Baby Blues already got the lockdown set, you've got the defenses up, and Bloss is at frontline. I've got nothing to do so I might as well try keeping the guys calm or would you rather they be running around like chickens without a head?"

"Ugh, guys-" Butch ventured.

"WHAT?!" The two teens snapped.

"Have you seen Brick?"

Buttercup twitched away from the screen, Mitch gapping at him, both with wide eyes before they turned back to each other. "CRAP!"

"I thought you were watching him!"

"I had Blue! What were you doing?!"

"I had Butch!"

"Shit, where is he?!" Mitch howled, frantically jamming buttons on the platform, the screen zooming in to a network of corridors, zeroing on a red blip. "Fuck!"

"What? Did you find him?!" Buttercup shouted, back at her screens, fingers clicking away at a keyboard that wasn't there though the monitors still picked it up.

"He's above ground!" Mitch replied. "He must have snuck off and followed Bloss!"

"Dumb ass!" Buttercup snarled, bashing her fist on the arm of her chair. "Fuckers gonna get himself killed! Bastards gonna get Blossom killed! Bubbles!"

"Already on it," Bubbles chirped, oddly calm in her section of the room. "visuals in three."

Directly above the holographic corridors another screen appeared, the dark landscape darting below in the image. Taking a sharp nose dive it dropped down towards a blob of red, Bricks face appearing as it zoomed in.

"Damn it all!" Buttercup snapped again, the central screen on her monitors showing bright blips of oddly shaped heat signatures darting around on what Butch recognized as the front lawn. "Mother fucking dumb ass!"

Clenching her fists she pulled them in close to her chest. One of the screens flashed to a different angle of the lawn, the heat signatures towering above the frame. Clicking her thumbs as if pressing a button and purple lights dart across the screen. Upon impact with the warm red and yellows the purple burst into icy blue, the figures slowing as she aimed for legs.

"Go down!" She snarled, shooting one multiple times until it glazed over a bright blue but still managed to move. "Damn these things are persistent!"

"It's not fast enough." Mitch muttered.

"What's gonna happen?" Boomer questioned worriedly, "Is Brick gonna be ok?"

"Of course he will." Butch folded his arms. "Like some little monster could take our brother out. Don't know why everyone's freaking out over it."

"Butch, those things CAN take your brother out." Buttercup stated, gunning down another red source until it frosted a dark purple. "Just one of those fuckers could take out all of Townsville in a matter of seconds and there's fifteen of them, you do the math."

"Then we have to do something!" Boomer jumped up, running to a door that would no longer open.

"What do you think I'm doing, playing Halo? Buttercup snapped. "I'm gunning as many of them down as I can, their just too fast!"

"Don't worry, we're working on that." Bubbles interjected, drawing everyone's attention, a large cylinder tube closing behind her. "Your brother will be fine. Not so sure about my sister though…"

"Wait a minute! Now where the fuck is Mitch?" Butch glanced around the room, trying to find the mop of brown hair and coming up empty.

"I told you, we're working on it." Bubbles stated again.

"That lucky bastard." Buttercup grumbled, sounding envious.

"Shit! Brick!" Boomer shouted, grabbing at the holograph of their brother as a blob of orange darted at him just before a large form crashed down on the two.

•••000•••

Ok, first thing first I must apologize once again for taking as long as I did to update. In all honesty this chapter had been finished not two days after my last update but while I was finishing up my phone had some kind of glitch and pasted a single word over my entire chapter. I had no idea how to undo it and tried pressing back and instead it turned back to the menu and saved the one word permanently. To think I later found out all I needed to do was shake the phone…

Needless to say I got pissed off. So much so that I actually threw my brand new phone across my room in my fit. On the upside I retained the sense of mind to only throw it at the pillow on my bed instead of at a wall so I didn't need to worry about getting a new phone.

Unfortunately the rewrite didn't go quite as planned, I was too mad to start writing it immediately, and in waiting a few weeks to cool off I forgot quite how I had written it the first time. All I do know is that it's not nearly as good. The reds scene had a lot more insight and details the first time around that I just couldn't repeat. So it turned out this way. Sorry if it seems rushed, I got annoyed every time I see it cause I know I wrote it right the first time, this time it's just not up to standards so I couldn't help but skim.

On a different note I'm sorry to say that this didn't go as planned in other ways as well since towards the end the chapter kind of got away with me before I realized just how long it was and had to stop. So I left with a cliffhanger and will follow up in the next one.

Oh, and before I forget I'd like to ask you all for a little help. You see, I've been looking at my summary of the story and I just don't like it but have no idea what to do. Any of you out there think you could give me a hand or a few ideas on how to change it?

Thanks for reading, thanks for waiting, thanks for just being here. I appreciate you all for taking the time to read my work even if most of you never leave me reviews. Hope you all have a nice day, see you next chapter. ^_^


	15. PR15: Ember

PR 15: Ember

All new! All new, no more prewritten chapters that I have to follow… not sure if its a good thing or not. On the one hand I can just go crazy with everything but on the other if I get stuck I'm just going to be stuck and have to figure my way out… Let's hope I don't get stuck.

Cause if I get stuck I just know I'm going to get irritated and start playing my new video game I got the other week… my gosh the Harvest Moon series are freaking addicting… I've had it for like a week and already logged enough hours to pass the games one year mark. Which is actually a lot even if the game time passes one minute for every one of our seconds. Oh gosh it's so addicting though, I keep telling myself I'll just play it for a few more minutes and before I know it a week in game passes and nearly my whole day is gone.

Anyways I've got to warn all of you before you read this chapter. If any of you don't like blood and violence then I suggest you turn around now cause this chapter is almost only action and lots of blood.

Disclaimer: I don't own the PPG or their base characters but everything that happens here is all my own. Hope you enjoy, hope you don't get grossed out. I don't think it's going to get that bad.

•••000•••

Rabid's… Rabid's were on their way here. Of all the things that could have happened this week. She'd already had to take on a small trove of not only Basilisk but Hell Hounds too and now a whole PACK of Rabid's?

For one person to go after Basilisks and come out unscathed was a miracle in and of itself. The wounds she now sported we're a testament to just how hard they were to handle. But Rabid's were on a whole nother level. A single Rabid could make an army of Basilisk look like a walk through the park. After all they weren't called 'Rabid' just for show.

Bursting through the basement doorway Blossom barreled over a tall form. A glimpse of wide green eyes and she knew it was Butch. Not bothering to stop and check on him Blossom jumped back up.

"You ok bro?" Mitch's voice somewhere in the background was the last thing she heard as she charged out the front door.

Things were about to get messy and it couldn't possibly have happened at a worse time. Her day had been a long one, the nights endeavors particularly draining on her reserves. Add the internal and external damages to her body on top of that and Blossom was dancing a fine line. If her powers ran too low, there would be no turning back, SHE would most definitely step in and try to help Blossom out.

Blossom didn't want help, she didn't want to have to rely on HER. She would protect them on her own for as long as she could. And if that wasn't enough then she would just have to try harder.

Sounds of rolling thunder shook the very ground, the earth beneath her feet buzzing ominously. They were getting closer…

"You could always turn back."

"No!" Blossom growled, SHE would not interfere, not tonight, not when it came to her family's safety.

"Then le'me help… you know ya can't do it without me."

"Watch me!" The teen hissed defiantly, shoulders tensing as the rolling thunder grew louder. Grabbing the useless jacket she stripped it from her shoulders, tossing it off to the side, reveling in the feel of the cold night wind as it whipped wildly around her. "I didn't want your help before and I sure don't want it now!"

"We'll see how long that lasts."

The light vibration beneath her feet grew violent, towering trees at the edge of the clearing cracking loudly as they fell to the ground.

"They're here."

Blossom didn't bother to speak this time, her response a feral growl as the colossus Rabid's tore out of the underbrush, renting the earth beneath their paws.

No beast looked quite the same as the last, some had horns while others had claws, one in the back even sported translucent bug like wings. Some ran on two legs, some on four, others on more, one with no legs at all. The only constant was that each beast moved like lightning, freakishly large maws hanging wide, some looking as if it should never have been able to stretch so far.

All had sickly grey tongues dangled over rows of shark like teeth, bubbling froth of various colors dribbling out as their heads bobbed wildly. Pasty looking hides glimmering under the moonlight, crazed red eyes casting sightlessly about.

"Now's ya last chance."

Blossom shook her head, forcing the voice as far away as possible, barring fangs at the incoming threat. Before they could get any closer she darted at them, limbs burning as icy air pierced her skin.

The world around her blurred, shrinking, refocusing, bleeding red. Hot liquid spurt around her as she tore into the first Rabid within reach.

Claws raked, flesh tore, jaws snapped, spit flew, dirt danced around them. Shrieks, bellows, howls, grunts, hissing, any and all animalistic cries raged, the sound bouncing off the high mountain walls, growing louder with each pass.

Blossom snarled in agony, a Rabid with reptilian characteristics clamping its serrated fangs into her already injured thigh. Pressing her feet against the chest of the bear Rabid in her grasp, Blossom twist around launching herself at her attackers back.

The Rabid snarled, fangs tearing into her leg as it tried to keep a hold of her, head bent awkwardly. Sinking her nails into its scaly hide she pressed her leg further into its mouth so that it wouldn't rip the muscle, bending in close, forcing the Rabid's head further back at an unnatural angle.

It shrieked, hissing and snarling, thrashing in random directions in an attempt to dislodge her. Blossom pressed harder, a loud snap and the Rabid convulsed violently, jaws crunching down. The girl hissed at this, scrabbling at its mouth, prying it back open and leaping away before another Rabid could pounce on her.

She hit the ground running, ignoring the burn of her thigh, circling the outer edge of the Rabid pack. Several of them stumbled at this, tripping over their own feet as they attempted to follow her. A catlike Rabid seemed to understand though, breaking away from the group, circling in the opposite direction. With no time to avoid it Blossom chose her only form of action and tackled it, latching on to its throat, tumbling head over heals as her momentum sent the Rabid flying back.

The feline Rabid wrapped its grey fleshy limbs around her, claws sinking into her sides, hind legs somehow squeezing up between them before it snapped the legs straight again and again tearing into her belly. Blossom thrashed, ripping at the Rabid's throat as it in turn tore into her, the two of them being batted into the mountain wall as the bear Rabid took a swipe at them.

The rocks trembled, hairline fractures spiderwebbing under the impact. Having taken the brunt of the impact the feline moaned, it's grip loosening before the Puff rammed it harder into the mountainside. Blossom leapt away, crimson ribbons trailing between her and the Rabid's claws before the wall gave, boulders tumbling down to crush the feline.

A hulking Rabid caught her by surprise, hooking its horns into her and tossing the girl straight into the air. She yelped, twisting around to land on her feet until the bug Rabid side swiped her sending the Puff into a spiraling dive.

She landed heavily on her side, the air whooshing out of her lungs. A deer looking Rabid appeared in her line of sight, cloven hooves trying to crush her as they descend upon her skull. Bleary eyes widened, the female rolling away just in time, the Rabid's hooves clipping her ear and gouging the earth.

Rolling to her feet Blossom turned, keeping the Rabid's in her sight, backing up towards the house. The beasts closed in, separating into a half circle to surround her. The girl felt her hackles raise, an angry growl bubbling up out of her throat, waiting to see which Rabid would be stupid enough to come after her first.

A blob of red in the corner of her eye captured her attention, stupid as it was Blossom couldn't help but turn to gape. The Rabid's took the opportunity to charge.

•••***•••

'Holy mother of crap!'

Brick would never admit it aloud but even he knew that he'd occasionally have stupid ideas. On a scale of one to ten this was probably a fifteen though.

To be honest he hadn't thought much… ok so he hadn't thought at all, about what would happen. All he knew was that, at the time, if she could go then why couldn't he? Besides, how could any of them expect him to just hide out like a frightened rat while a girl was fighting to protect them from whatever it was. He had pride you know! Pride he was currently choking on at the moment.

Coming out of the Utonium house he hadn't been able to see much with the cloud cover. He could sure as hell hear though, and whatever was going on sounded violent.

Once he was able to see clearly Brick had to admit that he was mildly unnerved by the appearance of the colossus mangy looking creatures running around on the front lawn with bubbling foam flying from their mouths. It wasn't hard to guess that these were those so called 'Rabid's' everyone was talking about.

Now don't get him wrong, they were disgusting sure, but Brick was by no means frightened by their grotesque appearances. Disgusted perhaps, afraid no, he'd seen worse things come crawling out of the deepest pits of HIM's realm in the middle of the night. Now those had been scary for a child to witness, desensitizing him to visual fears of anything he had come across in the past.

Just because they looked creepy or strong didn't mean they were. Most of those things, as mind boggling as they were, had been no match for him and his brothers. Unfortunately these things weren't a part of that category. Brick found that out the hard way.

When the cloud cover had cleared Brick found that none of the beast were paying him any mind, too focused on a large blur of ember red dancing within their midst.

Taking advantage of the opportunity he flexed his arms, red hot energy blazing through his muscles. Focusing it into the palms of his hands he flattened the rounded spheres into disks of crackling fire.

Whirling around he flung the disks at the many legs of a centipede looking Rabid aiming to sever the limbs. The focused energy had always been a specialty of his, quick and brutal, effective enough to slice though the densest of metals like a hot knife through melting butter.

What he hadn't expected was for the attack to have no effect. Actually, no effect was a gross understatement, the disk had done nothing more than skim over the creatures hide, to add insult to injury it even bounced off before slicing into the soft dirt.

It had caught the things attention though. Pincers snapped as the front end turned to him, spear like legs waiving about for all of a second before the wriggling body charged him. In the time it took Brick to blink the Rabid was upon him, pincered maw snapping close hairs from his face. Bursts of cold air explode before him, chilling mists surrounding the area in rolling fog.

The centipede Rabid screamed a loud piercing sound that stabbed into his brain like needles as it thrashed about.

Brick ran, energy crackling wildly about, darting under around or over the Rabid's trying to find an opening. Hell, just finding a spot that wasn't two seconds from him being squashed or gored would be welcomed.

A shattering rumble to his left knocked the boy off his feet, the avalanche of boulders shaking the ground too much for him to keep his footing. Brick tumbled across the lawn, a Rabid batting him away like a fly, not even looking like it noticed him. Brick sure noticed though, the searing pain blossomed out across his chest with the resounding crack. There was no doubt the hit had broke a few ribs.

Brick crashed bumpily across the grass and dirt, bouncing each time he hit the ground. Kicking his legs out he whipped around in a corkscrew using the turns to right himself. Still spinning around he rent the ground beneath his feet in spiraling patterns as he skid to a halt. He coughed hacking up blood and clutching his shirt over the broken ribs.

Unbeknownst to the Ruff the bug Rabid had broken from the pack, dive-bombing from behind. The buzz of its wings reached him at the last possible second. Bricks eyes widened before squeezing shut, his arms braced around his face as he await the inevitable.

CRUNCH

'Crunch huh?' Brick never thought the last thing he'd hear was crunch. Kind of pathetic really, getting crushed like a bug by a… well, bug.

The last time he had 'died' Brick remembered exploding in a blast of searing hot energy that consumed him from the inside out. Apparently death was different each time though for instead of the heat Brick had expected he felt cold. Freezing really. As if he were dropped into a bath of ice without so much as a cloth to protect him.

'Didn't expect it to be so soft either… wait, soft?'

Brick forced his eyes open, a solid wall of ember red splayed out before him consuming all he could see. He blinked, reaching out to touch the wall. It was cold, right up until his fingers passed though the top layer, warm silk fibers engulfing his palm.

It wasn't until the wall began to buzz, a loud growl rumbling from the other side, that Brick realized it was in fact alive. His head whipped back instantly, eyes wide as he looked up at the tower of red fur above him.

A wolf.

It looked like a wolf.

A monster sized wolf that stood at least twelve feet into the air.

It shook its head, flinging the smallish bug Rabid away from them with its jaws. It ducked then, narrow muzzle darting under its belly towards the dumbfounded boy, snatching him up with its ivory teeth.

Brick felt like a rag doll dangling from his shirt, grabbing fistfuls of the long hairs around its snout so that the running wouldn't toss him about. For some reason it never occurred to him to fight the beast off.

It jumped, landing on the back of the now frozen centipede Rabid, racing the length of its back and using the arch of its tail to launch itself up the mountain ridge.

Landing against a solid wall it tossed him over its back, a coil of fur that he could only guess was its tail snaking around him. It launched back off the wall, just before the tail surround him completely, catapulting down at the Rabid's below.

Brick could feel himself being jerked about, the soft silk of the tail slithering around him, allowing small glimpses of the outside.

The cool fur suddenly became warm, something sticky and wet drenching him as the hairs plastered against his skin. He coughed the wet fur clinging to his face making it hard to breath. Brick blinked and he was in the air, wind whipping around him, drying the liquid into a coppery sheen across his body.

Swiping furiously at the crusting gunk he looked down at the scene below him watching it unfold. The wolf didn't seem to be doing so well, even with the three dead Rabid's scattered across the lawn there were still twelve more, and they were all ganging up on it.

Landing on the broad back of a steer horned Rabid the wolf dug its claws into the thick muscle. The creature bucked wildly, kicking a smaller k-9 Rabid, breaking the things jaws with a howling spray of foam. The snake took this chance, striking out with dagger fangs for the wolf. On surprisingly thin paws the wolf leapt off the steer horns back, kicking the snake in the head and forcing its teeth into the bulls shoulder. It wasn't in time to avoid the next Rabid though. Long tentacles slapping it out of the air, pounding the wolf into the ground.

It rolled with the impact, ducking under the bear, snapping its jaws into the sickly grey foreleg of the deer Rabid. Another raptor looking Rabid with various spines clamped its wide mouth over the wolfs lower back in that same instant. The deer tossed its head around, ducking down to force it's sharp horns between it and the wolf but not before its leg bent oddly, the wolf tugging it with a crack.

The wolf twist around then snapping its jaws at the raptor but unable to reach. It snarled, twisting in any direction it could, trying to reach the raptor when an even larger saber toothed cat Rabid snapped up one of its legs. The wolf howled, tail whipping wildly, and before Brick knew it the singular appendage somehow multiplied wrapping around both the saber and raptor Rabid's. It tugged, howling and snarling viciously as the two Rabid's came away with mouthfuls of bloody fur.

Brick didn't have the time to watch any further as a Rabid the size of a rig leapt into the air, a bat by the looks of things, with sickled blades at the end of its wings. The thing flew up at him like a literal bat out of hell jaws wide and fangs bared shrieking all the while.

Thankfully it wasn't nearly as fast as the bug and Brick managed to dodge it in a fairly decent manner. Diving out of the sky he aimed for the ground again changeling direction just before he hit, the Rabid's momentum carrying it into the concrete pavement of the driveway.

It hopped back up, shaking itself off like the hit didn't hurt in the least. It dart at him again, faster this time, swiping the sickles at Brick. Flipping back he dodged most of it, the very tip catching his side, tearing the cloth and knocking him back to earth. The bat hopped over him, crunching its fangs around the Ruffs neck.

Like magic Brick felt the soft cold silk slipping between him and the bats jaws, the thickness of the fur too much for it to close completely. It lurched back, hacking as it attempt to spit out the fluffy stuff. The Ruff found himself snatched up once again, his shirt tearing a little more. The wolf didn't hold him this time though swinging him around and tossing him across the yard towards the house where he fell into a previously gouged trench.

'Oww.' Brick groaned, rubbing his head. He cast the wolf a dark glare. 'Shit! Not again!'

The bat was headed his way for another go at him, globs of yellow foam streaming in the air behind it, the moon casting an eerier than normal glow over its sickly hide. He rolled over, grabbing at the edges of the trench, his aching ribs screaming at him to stop.

A bright orange blob chose this moment to tackle into his side just then, knocking the Ruff back in. He cursed, the feel of hard warm scales pressing into him as the creature shoved him down, the bat crushing the both of them just in time for another blast of icy air to burst across the lawn blocking them from sight.

•••***•••

'Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!'

She didn't have the time to deal with this. She had a family to protect! Why in the seven hells would that idiot come out here! Why would he follow her? Was he that stubborn? Was that male that much of a fool? What sort of wet-behind-the-ears pup would be that much of fucking retard?!

…

'SHIT! NOT NOW! PLEASE NOT NOW!'

'Ya too late princess. Way too fucking late. It's MY TURN, BITCH!'

•••***•••

GGGAAAAAUUUUUUUUUU!

"What IS that!" Boomer questioned, looking worriedly at the screen his brother had just been on.

"Docent sound like anything I've ever heard…" Butch mumbled, gazing blankly at the roof above them as though it would answer his question. "Animal, monster, or otherwise…"

Buttercup and Bubbles froze up immediately, the room echoing eerily with the loud bone chilling cry.

"… That-" Bubbles began.

"-means we're fucked." Buttercup finished, punching her fist into her other hand before running both through her matted bed hair. "I knew you assholes would be trouble but I didn't think it would be this bad this fast…"

"Why? Is that thing that bad?" Boomer asked again, finally tearing his gaze from the hologram to look between the two Puffs. "And is Brick gonna be ok?"

"Your brother'll be fine…" Bubbles answered, her voice sounding funny as she tugged absently on her long, untied, blonde curls. "It's my sister that has to worry now…"

"Why?" Butch asked looking apathetic, the only tell tale of his emotions manifesting in the shaking of his clenched fists. "You keep saying that our brothers in trouble but that he's going to be ok. You keep saying your sisters in trouble and you're worried about her. Yet you won't fucking tell us WHY!"

"…"

"…"

The Puffs went silent once more, the only sounds coming from the monitors now that the cry had died down enough to stop echoing. Bubbles sucked in a deep breath, sighing breathily before going back to her monitors, reaching out to touch various ones.

"If you can see it… that's why…" Bubbles mumbled, turning her back to them as the hologram returned to the fight outside.

Boomer stared blankly for a good minute, not really understanding what he was supposed to be looking at. As far as the blue Ruff was concerned it was just a bunch of blurry images that he couldn't quite make out no matter how hard he tried. The only thing he could distinguish was that they appeared to be animals judging by the general body shape… except for the tiny one, that one he really had no idea about.

"What is that…" Butch stared intently at the screen, his eyes focused with some kind of emotion Boomer couldn't figure out.

"You can see them?" Buttercup whipped around, eyes wide and lips parted in surprise.

Butch gulped, nodding his head in reply. "…That's not the thing going after our brother is it?"

"No," She turned back to the screens in front of her, green eyes glowing lightly. "that's what's protecting all of us."

"Wait- you mean?!" Butch gave the Puffs an incredulous look, utter disbelief clear on his face. "No fucking way."

"Why? What are you seeing?" Boomer tried focusing better on the screen, leaning in to get a closer look.

"Don't tell me you can't see that thing."

"See what thing?"

"Ok, I know you're blonde and half blind but don't fucking tell me you can't see that shit!"

"See. What?!"

"Butch!" Buttercup snapped, pulling the Ruff's attention back before the older one could pick a fight. "He honestly can't see it, he can't see anything, he's not SUPPOSED to see anything, YOU'RE not supposed to see anything. I don't even fucking know how, cause you should still only be able to make out blobs of static, so why don't you tell us what you see."

"I don't know…" Butch mumbled, eyes flickering over the blurry figure. "I've never seen anything like it…"

"Describe it." Bubbles stated, both girls apparently paying attention even as they returned to the figures in front of them. "Just tell us what you DO see."

"… I wanna say it looks like a wolf… maybe a fox…, goat horns, bat wings, six- no, nine tails, three look like rat tails with spiked clubs at the end." Boomer glanced from his brother to the blurry image and back again, a disbelieving look in his eye but he stayed quiet letting the raven continue. "Red fur,…scales? The ass end looks like its scales… back legs look like those raptor things from that game with blades at the ankles…, funky looking spikes on the shoulders- what the fuck is this thing supposed to be anyway? It's a fucking buncha mismatched crap!"

"Exactly."

"That's why we have to worry so much."

"She's unstable."

"It's also why she won't loose."

•••***•••

Brick didn't know what the hell was going on anymore. The wolf, the Rabid's, the bat… everything confused him. The most confusing yet was the funky whatever-it-was with the orange scales that was currently hovering over him holding him still in the hole under the, still unmoving and possibly dead, bat Rabid. And for some reason he could swear he smelt sugar…

That sound from earlier was still ringing in his ears too. It had been so loud he was afraid his eardrums might just rupture.

Speaking of sounds he could hear some weird rumbling coming from the orange scale thing again. Something between a growl and that bubbling sound that comes from your stomach before you burp.

The bat shifted then, one side of it lifting just enough for the orange scale to be visible from the outside when the space lit up. The lizard looking thing had dropped its jaws wide open and flicked its tongue over the roof of its mouth as pink gas erupt from its throat. The smog caught on fire instantly, spouting through the opening into the face of whatever had attempt to dig them out. The bat went flying, rolling away like a rag doll, the pained squeals of the other Rabid piercing the Ruffs ears.

The orange scale sprang from the trench, long legs with sickled blades stretched out to claw at the Rabid. It dug the blades deep into the other raptors shoulders, decently lengthed arms gripping either side of the much larger creatures face, mouth clamping around the throat and tearing through the jugular. It jumped back instantly, the move so fast Brick saw nothing but a blur, it hadn't even gotton blood on it it was so fast.

Landing in front of the Ruff the lizard planted its feet in the grass holding still just long enough for him to see what it looked like. A velociraptor…

Tangerine orange scales coated the frame, electric blue stripes tearing across its back from shoulders to tail. Long cobalt blue feathers laced the tip of the tail, a sharp, bleached white length of bone glinting beneath the fluffy blue. It's forearms were much longer than the general raptor though, heavily muscled as though it ran on four legs instead of just two, it was probably capable of both.

In general it looked almost exactly like those Dromeusgigas from that 'run' they participate in the previous day except that its neck was much shorter. That and the fact that it was actually wearing what looked like a hornless Dromeusgigas skull on its head, a short bladed spike jutting out of the back right before the point that curved like a sharks fin, holding the bleached bone in place. It crouched on all fours in between the Ruff and the dying Rabid, still nearly eight feet in height, a leathery burnt orange frill standing out to frame it's face as it hissed angrily.

The orange scale backed up, hissing all the while, stopping at the Ruffs side and crouching lower until its belly nearly touched the ground. Brick just stared blankly at it, neon orange eyes glowing beneath the skull as they rolled towards him, the orange scale looking at him with diamond slitted pupils. Brick blinked.

Those eyes… that shade of orange. They seemed so very familiar to him just then but he had no idea why they would. The Ruff knew for a fact that he had never encountered a monster like this one before so how on earth could it seem familiar?

He didn't have time to think about it though. The orange scale hooked its muzzle around him and knocked Brick over. Falling against its side Brick had just enough time to register tough fabric under his hands before the things muzzle pressed lower, scooping him off the ground and onto its back, everything instantly blurring as it took off.

Gauu!

•••***•••

Step, step, dodge. Step, step, slide. Step, step, jump.

He had to run. Run faster. The adrenaline coursing through his veins had him practically flying. It wasn't enough, he needed more, to run until he was literally one with the wind. To feel the burn in his limbs as his body broke down the concentrated sugars into energy that would put even rocket fuel to shame.

He was fast, faster than lighting could ever hope to be. It wasn't good enough, his body may look like nothing but a blur to the naked human eye but that just wasn't cutting it. He couldn't rest until he was invisible, fast enough that no one would ever catch him, as it was the Rabid's might still catch up.

Might…

•••***•••

The red Ruff could do nothing but cling to the coarse halter fitted on the orange scaled lizard for all he was worth as it bobbed and weaved.

Running headlong into a rat looking Rabid the orange scale leapt clear over it, circling the thick group of sickly grey flesh. One of the larger Rabid's took a bite at it only for the raptor to dodge lithely to the side with a little half spin. Twisting and writhing like a snake it slipped through the spaces between the Rabid's, constantly staying in the midst of the flailing limbs, the Rabid's still focused on the blur of red Brick assumed was the wolf.

Making a sudden hairpin turn the orange scale darted under the belly of another Rabid dropping to all fours as it did so. The mob instantly took off after him, the creatures bright coloration a painful eye catcher in the darkness. The blur of red chose precisely that moment to launch itself from the crowd, its large form blotting out the moon as it sailed over the orange scale. Claws renting earth it crashed down directly in front of them. The orange scale ducked even lower, sliding down under its belly as it reared back on hind legs, cold silk tails brushing softly against the Ruffs cheeks.

'The fuck?!'

Brick gapped, eyes glued to the thing. Ember fur shimmered under the moonlight, tendrils of icy fog dribbling from its maw, the cool mist oozing across the lawn in sheets. Six puffy tails curled lazily into the air. Three more, nearly triple the length, arched back poised like vipers, the third length of each covered in bristled spines. Scaled raptor legs planted wide and firm into the ground, providing balance along with the space the orange scale had used. Velvety red wings spread wide flapping threateningly against the Rabid's. Its wolfen head reared back, thick spiraled horns nearly pressing to its neck.

A bright magenta orb began to form rapidly between its fangs, the mist snaking around its body as the white fog converged upon the ball. Thin forepaws slammed back to earth, the sickled blades on its ankles biting down for leverage.

BOOM!

The magenta sphere blast off smoking mist in its wake. The sheer force of the attack shoved the red beast nearly thirty feet across the lawn. Brick lay personal witness to the writhing form of the decapitated deer Rabid and several others that were now missing large sections of their body's.

Twisting around itself the thing darted after Brick and the raptor, its towering form easily dwarfing both. Neon orange eyes rolled back, the raptor sliding in close to the red beast, faces aligned as they looked each other in the eye. The raptor shrieked suddenly burnt orange frill spread wide it sprang away from the red beast. Headed straight for the mountain ridge it pounced, all four limbs clawing into the sheer rock face, it's body slithering like the lizard it was as it tore its way up the wall.

Literally descending from nowhere a toad Rabid crashed into their path, its sticky toes holding it steady to the vertical surface. Brick gripped tighter, ducking low to the raptors back the second he felt the tell tail vibrations coming from the lizards belly. Jaws snapped open, soft blue smoke emerging from the raptor throat a split second before it flicked its tongue across the roof of its mouth once more. The resulting jet of flame seared the amphibian in their path, its screeching cry faded as the charred form dropped to the ground with a loud crunch upon impact.

Passing through the smoldering fire the orange scale dragged itself onto the cliff top rising up on hind legs to survey the scene below them.

Surprisingly enough there only seemed to be four Rabid's left. The hulking steer horn off to the far right looked pretty mangled, well more so that it already did anyway, one leg twisted at an odd angle even as it forced itself to its feet. The bear on the opposite side looked a little less worse for wear, the only visible damage being the bloody wound on its neck that didn't seem to bother it in the least. The snake Rabid that still slithered about was the most damaged by far, several of its ribs jutting from its sides, at least a quarter of its back end missing completely, the bloody spine sticking out.

Much to the annoyance of the red Ruff the damn bug Rabid seemed to have survived as well, the stupid insect just refusing to stay down as it aimed for the Ruff and the raptor once more.

"Just die already!" Brick cursed, shooting at the wasp lookalike with eye beams. Keeping one hand firmly on the raptors halter he formed a sphere of energy once more, condensing as much as he could handle into it with one hand before flinging the orb at the bug. "Eat that fucker."

The orange scale darted to the left, jumping out of the way as the orb clipped one of the bugs wings. Knocked off balance it went crashing into the rocks where they had just been. Talons grinding over stone the orange scale skid to a screeching halt, head bowed, tail whipping wildly. The feathers seemed to fall away then, cobalt tufts curling towards the base, bleached bone whistling an ivory trail through the inky dark.

Blurring into an orange mass it circled, tightening slowly around the downed bug. The bladed tail hooked around slicing at the Rabid. Curving close enough to touch, the orange scale twist its tail around, swaying it lazily up and down, carving the bone into the Rabid's patchy grey hide.

The bug thrashed across the ground, spindly legs vainly attempting to push it back up. Wings buzzed rapidly, straining to reach air sucked away by the raptors steady stream of soft flame aimed just below it, slowly cooking the bug from the inside out. Snapping jagged frothing pincers the bug reared back, fuzzy posterior arched, the serrated barb on the end biting into the raptors leg. Stumbling the slightest bit, the raptor slowed just enough for the bug to clamp its pincers into the orange blue scales across its flank.

'I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot. I'm a freaking idiot!' Like a broken record, it was the only thing going through the Ruffs head. His brain seeming to instinctively know he shouldn't be doing this but his body had already moved, blazing red fist bashing down on the pincer closest to him.

Surprisingly the bug shrieked, hairline fractures crackling across the shell like appendage, its grip loosening enough for the raptor to get away.

"FUCK!" Brick howled along with the Rabid, his fist, now covered in the sickly froth, burning profusely.

He tucked his hand against his chest, tearing the rest of his shirt and using it to wipe the foam away as fast as he could. He discarded the shirt quickly, the fabric disintegrating in seconds but damage was already done. Once lightly tanned skin was now a blistered red, flakes peeling at the edges. If he had to compare it to anything it would be likened to a corrosive acid being sprayed on him. For all he knew he could be right too.

Using the bugs distraction the orange scale skipped back a few more paces. Darting back in for the kill it ran straight at the Rabid, seemingly intent on ramming into it, but stopped abruptly just several paces away. Spinning sharply with built momentum the tail sliced through the air as it bashed into the Rabid's damaged pincer shattering the appendage. Not satisfied with that it continued spinning, turning a full 360 on the spot, this time it's leg came up the sickled blade lopping the bugs head clean off with a painfully familiar styled backward kick.

The orange scale skittered to a stop sides shaking, wether from exertion excitement or something else entirely the Ruff didn't know, it's hot breath puffing clouds of steam into the night air. Brick followed suit taking this chance to finally breath, greedily sucking in the oxygen he had been mostly deprived of during his time on the raptors back. If there was any one thing he could say it was that the orange scale was, without a doubt, the fastest thing he had ever encountered. The sheer g force caused by its speed had all but crushed the Ruff to the things back giving him severe whiplash on every turn.

Finally regaining a semblance of composure Brick looked at the raptor, the reality of the situation finally dawning on him that he was currently seated on a monster. A monster that had killed a bunch of other ones that he had hardly been able to scratch, a monster that could probably kill him with a flick of its tail… yet he wasn't the slightest bit concerned. It was as if some distant part of his brain or some latent sense or instinct was telling him he was ok, that he had nothing to worry about… which honestly bothered him even more.

He wasn't quite sure how to approach the situation… or where to begin for that matter.

With a shuddering breath the orange and blue scales shifted beneath him not unlike a bird ruffling its feathers or a dog shaking its fur. The raptors large skull covered head swung around then with a quiet grunt, intelligent neon eyes considering the teen once more. Brick stilled under its scrutiny weary of the stronger creature, mostly buried senses of self preservation warning him not to piss off the thing that had just saved his ass.

It wrinkled its nose at him, long rows of two inch fangs barred at the teen. The burnt orange frill made its appearance once more as it stomped its feet against the ground cracking the stone beneath.

GGGAAAAAUUUUUUUUUU!

Both teen and lizard cringed at the booming sound. The lizard stooped down, curling in on itself, forepaws clasped over its head in a useless attempt to block out the sound. Brick wasn't much better, hands pressed so tightly over his ears he would have worried about crushing his own skull if not for his desperation to escape the sound.

The echoes rebound off the cliffs, vibrating through every solid surface long after the sound ceased to be. Seemingly forgetting about its passenger once more the raptor cautiously made its way to the edge of the cliff. Brick was fine with that, it gave him a little more time to work through the nauseous feeling the vibrations had caused, although he was a little jealous of how easily the raptor had shrugged off the effects.

The orange scales abrupt stop didn't help him in the least. The urge to empty his guts became more prominent as the lizard tensed beneath him. Leaning over its side he complied with his body's demand.

"Gross…" Brick grumbled, wiping at the corners of his mouth with the less damaged portion of his arm. He wasn't too comfortable letting go of the halter just yet less the raptor take off again like it had before.

Something red in his peripherals chose that moment to move drawing the teens attention. Brick's crimson orbs widened, not for the first time that night and probably not the last either, his lips parting in mild surprise at the scene before him.

From the cliff face the Powerpuff's entire lawn and surrounding forest easily splayed out for the male to see. The landscape torn, burnt, frozen, you name it. Once nearly two acres of green grass now either black grey charcoal or slathered in liquid life. Still smoldering corpses littered the lawn, some torn or blast beyond recognition, limbs organs and other parts speckling the ground like gruesome sprinkles on a cake he would never want to touch. Some of them were still twitching, unnerving the boy more than he already was. The topping on the cake of this horror fest was what disturbed him the most though. While most of the things had already been damaged beyond recognition what stood in the middle of the lawn like a glorified statue was far from unidentifiable.

The coiled body of the snake Rabid made up the base of things, its sickly grey hide stretched thin and torn over dozens upon dozens of its protruding ribs and spinal cord. Slumped against its left side lay the steer horn, legs twisted at disturbing angles, splintered bones jutting out of brittle flesh. Its side was filleted open, organs spilling out, tangling around broken legs as though it had still attempted to walk. What really got him was what was just behind its back slightly propping it up though.

Standing on hind legs the used-to-be-wolf held itself tall, tattered wings shaved clean to the bone arched up into the sky holding the bear Rabid several feet off the ground. The bones pierced through shoulder blades, clawed paws holding the head back just far enough to crack the neck. Two of the spiked tails steadied it on the ground while the third found itself impaled within the bears chest a good five to six inches of the spikes sticking through the back, the other six tails winding around the bear holding it steady. Crimson black blood dribbled over every surface, rivulets trailing like rain water over the four beasts, coating every surface in its coppery haze before pooling out beneath them covering a sickeningly large area.

With a loud grunt the beast heaved the much larger bear off of it. The Rabid's body crunching heavily on damp earth. Slowly limping its way off the pile of Rabid's it shook itself scattering the iron smelling red further but still retaining enough to plaster it's silk fur down. The bone wings clattered loudly at the joints, knocking together. The beast hissed, looking back over its shoulders and did something Brick just couldn't bare to watch.

Crunch

Cautiously peeling an eye open he watched as the severed wing bones thumped uselessly on the ground, splashing in the blood puddle below. His stomach turned again threatening to revolt once more at the scene.

Screeee!

The raptor shrieked, body jerking violently beneath him, nearly throwing the boy over the cliff as it turned tail running for all it was worth. Brick had one second to process the move, hand grabbing the halter in a death grip. The second and third was spent wondering what the heck had gotten into the stupid thing. By the fourth the clouds had covered the moon once more stealing his vision to the point that he could only make out shapes. The fifth introduced a rumbling bellow not more than a hundred feet behind. The sixth had the earth shaking beneath the two. Seventh and eighth had his blood running cold as twin diamond streaks of red closed in on him so fast he could scarcely blink. Nine and ten brought the moon back out from behind the clouds making him almost wish they hadn't, because eleven and twelve had a massive pair of jaws nearly half his size spreading on either side of him, stringy red slobber and chunks of Rabid flesh spraying out. Thirteen and fourteen had his heart literally leaping into his throat as the raptor launched itself down the mountainside head first.

Clung!

Steel and stone caved under the raptors weight, dagger claws shaving through the metal for traction, all four legs slinging it down a large corridor that the Ruff had no idea how they had reached. Heck, Brick couldn't even tell if it was long or short with how fast the raptor was racing through, the steel literally groaning as they passed. A bright light appeared at the end, he could feel the strain of the lizards muscle beneath him, hear the angry growls behind.

The pair erupt from the end of the corridor, whistling like a bullet as they passed through an even larger warehouse like structure. Brick's dry blurry eyes had just enough time to discern a flash of toxic green and aqua blue, two body's brushing past on either side of him, before the raptor screeched to a bone jarring halt. Even his vice grip wasn't enough to save him this time, the sheer momentum launching him clean off the lizards back.

•••000•••

Sorry I've been taking forever. This chapter was a little more than I thought it would be and I just can't get it quite right. On top of that, me ms antisocial who hates contact with just about anyone, somehow ended up working summer fun this year as a leader with about twenty five third graders. I'm going absolutely insane trying to keep up with them. I hardly have any time for myself between work, setting things up for them and the stuff I have to do around the house. I'm lucky to even get enough sleep presently. Never thought I would say this but I can't wait till summer is over. I want my old job back. At least then I didn't have to worry about where all the kids were, I just had to make sure they didn't break anything. Kids are crazy now days, tell them not to go by the dog they try to pet it, tell them to be careful by the road they try to run across. Tell em to put their shoes on and I gotta go hunt em down and hog tie the shoes on. Goodness I want summer to be over soooo bad…

by the way I haven't had the time to proof read or anything so if you guys find mistakes sorry about that. And also some of the things might change a little more when I finally find the time to look it over cause I will most likely find things I don't like.


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